Multiplexing control information in a physical uplink data channel

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses for multiplexing control information in a physical uplink data channel. A method of a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a configuration for a first set of values and receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format scheduling a transmission of a physical uplink shared data channel (PUSCH) over a set of resource elements (REs) and including a field providing an index. The method further includes determining a first value from the first set of values based on the index, determining a first subset of REs from the set of REs, for multiplexing first uplink control information (UCI), based on the first value, and transmitting the first UCI in the PUSCH.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/432,215, filed on Dec. 9, 2016; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/436,705, filed on Dec. 20, 2016; U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/469,843, filed on Mar. 10,2017; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/509,831, filedon May 23, 2017. The content of the above-identified patent documents isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to a wireless communicationsystem. More specifically, this disclosure relates to supportingtransmissions of multiplexing control information in a uplink datachannel.

BACKGROUND

A user equipment (UE) is commonly referred to as a terminal or a mobilestation, can be fixed or mobile, and can be a cellular phone, a personalcomputer device, or an automated device. A gNB is generally a fixedstation and can also be referred to as a base station, an access point,or other equivalent terminology. A communication system includes adownlink (DL) that refers to transmissions from a base station or one ormore transmission points to UEs and an uplink (UL) that refers totransmissions from UEs to a base station or to one or more receptionpoints.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a pre-5^(th)-Generation (5G) or 5Gcommunication system to be provided for supporting higher data ratesbeyond 4^(th)-generation (4G) communication system such as long termevolution (LTE). The present disclosure relates to multiplexing uplinkcontrol information (UCI) in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).The present disclosure also relates to determining a number of codedsymbols per layer for transmission of a UCI type in a PUSCH conveying aninitial transmission of a data transport block (TB) or an adaptiveretransmission of the data TB. The present disclosure additionallyrelates to determining a number of coded symbols per layer fortransmission of a UCI type in a PUSCH conveying an adaptiveretransmission of data code blocks (CBs) where the adaptiveretransmission includes different data CBs than the initial transmissionof the data CBs. The present disclosure further relates to determining anumber of coded symbols per layer for transmission of a UCI type in aPUSCH when the PUSCH conveys only UCI. The present disclosureadditionally relates to multiplexing coded symbols for various UCI typesin a PUSCH so that an impact on data reception reliability is minimizedand UCI reception reliability is improved. The present disclosure alsorelates to supporting encoding of UCI payloads that are smaller than orequal to a predetermined value using an encoding method that isapplicable to UCI payloads above the predetermined value. The presentdisclosure additionally relates to enabling a gNB to schedule aretransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword from a UE. The present disclosurefurther relates to enabling transmission of HARQ-ACK information percode block group. The present disclosure additionally relates toapplying a different adjustment for parameters of a PUSCH transmissionfrom a UE in slots with UCI or SRS multiplexing than in slots withoutUCI or SRS multiplexing and also accounting for potentially differentvariable DMRS resources.

In one embodiment, a UE includes a receiver configured to receive aconfiguration for a first set of values and a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format scheduling a transmission of a PUSCH over a setof resource elements (REs) and including a field providing an index. TheUE further includes a processor configured to determine a first valuefrom the first set of values based on the index; and a first subset ofREs, from the set of REs, for multiplexing first uplink controlinformation (UCI) based on the first value. Additionally, the UEincludes a transmitter configured to transmit the first UCI in thePUSCH.

In another embodiment, a base station includes a transmitter configuredto transmit a configuration for a first set of values; and a DCI formatscheduling a reception of a PUSCH over a set of REs and including afield providing an index. The base station. A processor configured todetermine a first value from the first set of values based on the index;and a first subset of REs, from the set of REs, for de-multiplexingfirst UCI based on the first value. A receiver configured to receive thefirst UCI in the PUSCH.

In yet another embodiment, a method of a UE includes receiving aconfiguration for a first set of values and receiving a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format scheduling a transmission of a physical uplinkshared data channel (PUSCH) over a set of resource elements (REs) andincluding a field providing an index. The method further includesdetermining a first value from the first set of values based on theindex, determining a first subset of REs from the set of REs, formultiplexing first uplink control information (UCI), based on the firstvalue, and transmitting the first UCI in the PUSCH.

Other technical features may be readily apparent to one skilled in theart from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this patent document. The term “couple” and derivatives referto any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements,whether or not those elements are in physical contact with one another.The terms “transmit,” “receive,” and “communicate,” as well asderivatives thereof, encompass both direct and indirect communication.The terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, meaninclusion without limitation. The term “or” is inclusive, meaningand/or. The phrase “associated with,” as well as derivatives thereof,means to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, becontained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicablewith, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be boundto or with, have, have a property of, have a relationship to or with, orthe like. The term “controller” means any device, system or part thereofthat controls at least one operation. Such a controller may beimplemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software and/orfirmware. The functionality associated with any particular controllermay be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Thephrase “at least one of,” when used with a list of items, means thatdifferent combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used,and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, “at least oneof: A, B, and C” includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, Aand B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented orsupported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed fromcomputer readable program code and embodied in a computer readablemedium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or morecomputer programs, software components, sets of instructions,procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or aportion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computerreadable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code”includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code,and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes anytype of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as readonly memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, acompact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type ofmemory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired,wireless, optical, or other communication links that transporttransitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computerreadable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored andmedia where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as arewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

Definitions for other certain words and phrases are provided throughoutthis patent document. Those of ordinary skill in the art shouldunderstand that in many if not most instances, such definitions apply toprior as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

Aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure are readilyapparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustratinga number of particular embodiments and implementations, including thebest mode contemplated for carrying out the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure is also capable of other and different embodiments,and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects, allwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. The present disclosureis illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in thefigures of the accompanying drawings.

In the following, both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and timedivision duplexing (TDD) are considered as the duplex method for DL andUL signaling.

Although exemplary descriptions and embodiments to follow assumeorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonalfrequency division multiple access (OFDMA), this present disclosure canbe extended to other OFDM-based transmission waveforms or multipleaccess schemes such as filtered OFDM (F-OFDM) or OFDM with zero cyclicprefix.

This present disclosure covers several components which can be used inconjunction or in combination with one another, or can operate asstandalone schemes

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network according to embodimentsof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example gNB according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access transmit path according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates a high-level diagram of an orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access receive path according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example DL slot structure for PDSCH transmissionor PDCCH transmission according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example UL slot structure for PUSCH transmissionor PUCCH transmission according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example transmitter structure using OFDM accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example receiver structure using OFDM according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example transmitter block diagram for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to this embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example receiver block diagram for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to this embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example process for a UE to determine aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to apply for determining a number of codedmodulation symbols in a PUSCH depending on whether or not the PUSCHconveys an initial transmission of a retransmission of a data TBaccording to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process for a UE to determine aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to apply for determining a number of codedmodulation symbols in a PUSCH transmission based on signaling in anassociated UL DCI format according to this embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example mapping to sub-carriers on a PUSCH ofcoded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), anddata according to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 illustrates an example mapping to sub-carriers on a PUSCH ofcoded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), anddata according to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example mapping to PUSCH sub-carriers of codedmodulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), and dataaccording to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 16 illustrates an example mapping to PUSCH sub-carriers of codedmodulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), and dataaccording to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 illustrates an example mapping on PUSCH sub-carriers of codedmodulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), and dataaccording to the first option for mapping UCI coded modulation symbolsacross available PUSCH slot symbols according to this embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example determination for a number of CSI codedmodulation symbols based on a reference CSI payload (CSI part 1)according to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 illustrates an example first approach for mapping CSI tosub-carriers of a PUSCH transmission according to this embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 20 illustrates an example second approach for mapping CSI tosub-carriers of a PUSCH transmission according to this embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 21 illustrates an example existence of an additional DMRS when UCIis multiplexed in a PUSCH transmission according to this embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example mapping and encoding process for anoriginal information payload though a use of a codeword with largerlength that the original information payload according to thisembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 23 illustrates an example decoding and de-mapping process for anoriginal information payload though a use of a codeword with largerlength that the original information payload according to thisembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 24 illustrates an example scheduling for a HARQ-ACK codewordretransmission according to this embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 25 illustrates an example adaptive partitioning of a data codeblock to data code block groups and a respective adaptive generation ofan HARQ-ACK codeword of predetermined length according to thisembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 26 illustrates an example receiver block diagram for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to this embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 27 illustrates an example process for a UE to adjust a MCS indexsignaled in an UL DCI format and determine an adjusted MCS index inorder to account for an increase in a code rate due to UCI multiplexingaccording to this embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 28 illustrates an example process for a UE to adjust a number ofRBs signaled in an UL DCI format for determining a data TBS in order toaccount for an increase in a code rate due to UCI or SRS multiplexing ina PUSCH according to this embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 28, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artmay understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

The following documents and standards descriptions are herebyincorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully setforth herein: 3GPP TS 36.211 v13.2.0, “E-UTRA, Physical channels andmodulation;” 3GPP TS 36.212 v13.2.0, “E-UTRA, Multiplexing and Channelcoding;” 3GPP TS 36.213 v13.2.0, “E-UTRA, Physical Layer Procedures;”3GPP TS 36.321 v13.2.0, “E-UTRA, Medium Access Control (MAC) protocolspecification;” and 3GPP TS 36.331 v13.2.0, “E-UTRA, Radio ResourceControl (RRC) Protocol Specification.”

To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased sincedeployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made todevelop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5Gor pre-5G communication system is also called a “Beyond 4G Network” or a“Post LTE System.”

The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higherfrequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higherdata rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increasethe transmission coverage, the beamforming, massive multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna,an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques and the like arediscussed in 5G communication systems.

In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system networkimprovement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radioaccess networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D)communication, wireless backhaul communication, moving network,cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP) transmissionand reception, interference mitigation and cancellation and the like.

In the 5G system, hybrid frequency shift keying and quadrature amplitudemodulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as anadaptive modulation and coding (AMC) technique, and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse codemultiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have beendeveloped.

FIGS. 1-4B below describe various embodiments implemented in wirelesscommunications systems and with the use of OFDM or OFDMA communicationtechniques. The descriptions of FIGS. 1-3 are not meant to implyphysical or architectural limitations to the manner in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Different embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be implemented in any suitably-arranged communicationssystem.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network 100 according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the wirelessnetwork 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodimentsof the wireless network 100 could be used without departing from thescope of this disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless network 100 includes a gNB 101, a gNB102, and a gNB 103. The gNB 101 communicates with the gNB 102 and thegNB 103. The gNB 101 also communicates with at least one network 130,such as the Internet, a proprietary internet protocol (IP) network, orother data network.

The gNB 102 provides wireless broadband access to the network 130 for afirst plurality of user equipments (UEs) within a coverage area 120 ofthe gNB 102. The first plurality of UEs includes a UE 111, which may belocated in a small business (SB); a UE 112, which may be located in anenterprise (E); a UE 113, which may be located in a WiFi hotspot (HS); aUE 114, which may be located in a first residence (R); a UE 115, whichmay be located in a second residence (R); and a UE 116, which may be amobile device (M), such as a cell phone, a wireless laptop, a wirelessPDA, or the like. The gNB 103 provides wireless broadband access to thenetwork 130 for a second plurality of UEs within a coverage area 125 ofthe gNB 103. The second plurality of UEs includes the UE 115 and the UE116. In some embodiments, one or more of the gNBs 101-103 maycommunicate with each other and with the UEs 111-116 using 5G, LTE,LTE-A, WiMAX, WiFi, or other wireless communication techniques.

Depending on the network type, the term “base station” or “BS” can referto any component (or collection of components) configured to providewireless access to a network, such as transmit point (TP),transmit-receive point (TRP), an enhanced base station (eNodeB or gNB),gNB, a macrocell, a femtocell, a WiFi access point (AP), or otherwirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access inaccordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 5G3GPP new radio interface/access (NR), long term evolution (LTE), LTEadvanced (LTE-A), high speed packet access (HSPA), Wi-Fi802.11a/b/g/n/ac, etc. For the sake of convenience, the terms “eNodeB”and “gNB” are used in this patent document to refer to networkinfrastructure components that provide wireless access to remoteterminals. Also, depending on the network type, other well-known termsmay be used instead of “user equipment” or “UE,” such as “mobilestation,” “subscriber station,” “remote terminal,” “wireless terminal,”or “user device.” For the sake of convenience, the terms “userequipment” and “UE” are used in this patent document to refer to remotewireless equipment that wirelessly accesses a gNB, whether the UE is amobile device (such as a mobile telephone or smartphone) or is normallyconsidered a stationary device (such as a desktop computer or vendingmachine).

Dotted lines show the approximate extents of the coverage areas 120 and125, which are shown as approximately circular for the purposes ofillustration and explanation only. It should be clearly understood thatthe coverage areas associated with gNBs, such as the coverage areas 120and 125, may have other shapes, including irregular shapes, dependingupon the configuration of the gNBs and variations in the radioenvironment associated with natural and man-made obstructions.

As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111-116include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof, fortransmitting uplink control information (UCI) on an uplink shared datachannel or for determining a codeword with acknowledgement informationin an advanced wireless communication system. In certain embodiments,and one or more of the gNBs 101-103 includes circuitry, programming, ora combination thereof, for receiving UCI on an uplink shared datachannel or for or for determining a codeword with acknowledgementinformation in an advanced wireless communication system.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wireless network 100,various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the wireless network100 could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in anysuitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly withany number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband accessto the network 130. Similarly, each gNB 102-103 could communicatedirectly with the network 130 and provide UEs with direct wirelessbroadband access to the network 130. Further, the gNBs 101, 102, and/or103 could provide access to other or additional external networks, suchas external telephone networks or other types of data networks.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example gNB 102 according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The embodiment of the gNB 102 illustrated in FIG. 2is for illustration only, and the gNBs 101 and 103 of FIG. 1 could havethe same or similar configuration. However, gNBs come in a wide varietyof configurations, and FIG. 2 does not limit the scope of thisdisclosure to any particular implementation of a gNB.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gNB 102 includes multiple antennas 205 a-205 n,multiple RF transceivers 210 a-210 n, transmit (TX) processing circuitry215, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 220. The gNB 102 alsoincludes a controller/processor 225, a memory 230, and a backhaul ornetwork interface 235.

The RF transceivers 210 a-210 n receive, from the antennas 205 a-205 n,incoming RF signals, such as signals transmitted by UEs in the network100. The RF transceivers 210 a-210 n down-convert the incoming RFsignals to generate IF or baseband signals. The IF or baseband signalsare sent to the RX processing circuitry 220, which generates processedbaseband signals by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the basebandor IF signals. The RX processing circuitry 220 transmits the processedbaseband signals to the controller/processor 225 for further processing.In some embodiments, the RF transceivers 210 a-210 n are capable oftransmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) conveying adownlink control information (DCI) format, a physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) conveying one or more data transport blocks scheduled bythe DCI format, and configuration information for reception of aphysical uplink control channel (PUCCH) conveying acknowledgementinformation in response to transmitting the one or more data transportblocks.

The TX processing circuitry 215 receives analog or digital data (such asvoice data, web data, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from thecontroller/processor 225. The TX processing circuitry 215 encodes,multiplexes, and/or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generateprocessed baseband or IF signals. The RF transceivers 210 a-210 nreceive the outgoing processed baseband or IF signals from the TXprocessing circuitry 215 and up-converts the baseband or IF signals toRF signals that are transmitted via the antennas 205 a-205 n.

The controller/processor 225 can include one or more processors or otherprocessing devices that control the overall operation of the gNB 102.For example, the controller/processor 225 could control the reception offorward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signalsby the RF transceivers 210 a-210 n, the RX processing circuitry 220, andthe TX processing circuitry 215 in accordance with well-knownprinciples. The controller/processor 225 could support additionalfunctions as well, such as more advanced wireless communicationfunctions. For instance, the controller/processor 225 could support beamforming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals frommultiple antennas 205 a-205 n are weighted differently to effectivelysteer the outgoing signals in a desired direction. Any of a wide varietyof other functions could be supported in the gNB 102 by thecontroller/processor 225.

In some embodiments, the controller/processor 225 includes at least onemicroprocessor or microcontroller. As described in more detail below,the gNB 102 may include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereoffor processing of an uplink channel and/or a downlink channel. Forexample, controller/processor 225 can be configured to execute one ormore instructions, stored in memory 230, that are configured to causethe controller/processor to process the signal.

The controller/processor 225 is also capable of executing programs andother processes resident in the memory 230, such as an OS. Thecontroller/processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 asrequired by an executing process.

The controller/processor 225 is also coupled to the backhaul or networkinterface 235. The backhaul or network interface 235 allows the gNB 102to communicate with other devices or systems over a backhaul connectionor over a network. The interface 235 could support communications overany suitable wired or wireless connection(s). For example, when the gNB102 is implemented as part of a cellular communication system (such asone supporting 5G, LTE, or LTE-A), the interface 235 could allow the gNB102 to communicate with other gNBs over a wired or wireless backhaulconnection. When the gNB 102 is implemented as an access point, theinterface 235 could allow the gNB 102 to communicate over a wired orwireless local area network or over a wired or wireless connection to alarger network (such as the Internet). The interface 235 includes anysuitable structure supporting communications over a wired or wirelessconnection, such as an Ethernet or RF transceiver.

The memory 230 is coupled to the controller/processor 225. Part of thememory 230 could include a RAM, and another part of the memory 230 couldinclude a Flash memory or other ROM.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of gNB 102, various changes maybe made to FIG. 2. For example, the gNB 102 could include any number ofeach component shown in FIG. 2. As a particular example, an access pointcould include a number of interfaces 235, and the controller/processor225 could support routing functions to route data between differentnetwork addresses. As another particular example, while shown asincluding a single instance of TX processing circuitry 215 and a singleinstance of RX processing circuitry 220, the gNB 102 could includemultiple instances of each (such as one per RF transceiver). Also,various components in FIG. 2 could be combined, further subdivided, oromitted and additional components could be added according to particularneeds.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116 according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The embodiment of the UE 116 illustrated in FIG. 3is for illustration only, and the UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 could have thesame or similar configuration. However, UEs come in a wide variety ofconfigurations, and FIG. 3 does not limit the scope of this disclosureto any particular implementation of a UE.

As shown in FIG. 3, the UE 116 includes an antenna 305, a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver 310, TX processing circuitry 315, amicrophone 320, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 325. The UE 116also includes a speaker 330, a processor 340, an input/output (I/O)interface (IF) 345, a touchscreen 350, a display 355, and a memory 360.The memory 360 includes an operating system (OS) 361 and one or moreapplications 362.

The RF transceiver 310 receives, from the antenna 305, an incoming RFsignal transmitted by a gNB of the network 100. The RF transceiver 310down-converts the incoming RF signal to generate an intermediatefrequency (IF) or baseband signal. The IF or baseband signal is sent tothe RX processing circuitry 325, which generates a processed basebandsignal by filtering, decoding, and/or digitizing the baseband or IFsignal. The RX processing circuitry 325 transmits the processed basebandsignal to the speaker 330 (such as for voice data) or to the processor340 for further processing (such as for web browsing data).

The TX processing circuitry 315 receives analog or digital voice datafrom the microphone 320 or other outgoing baseband data (such as webdata, e-mail, or interactive video game data) from the processor 340.The TX processing circuitry 315 encodes, multiplexes, and/or digitizesthe outgoing baseband data to generate a processed baseband or IFsignal. The RF transceiver 310 receives the outgoing processed basebandor IF signal from the TX processing circuitry 315 and up-converts thebaseband or IF signal to an RF signal that is transmitted via theantenna 305.

The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processingdevices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 in order tocontrol the overall operation of the UE 116. For example, the processor340 could control the reception of forward channel signals and thetransmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceiver 310, theRX processing circuitry 325, and the TX processing circuitry 315 inaccordance with well-known principles. In some embodiments, theprocessor 340 includes at least one microprocessor or microcontroller.

The processor 340 is also capable of executing other processes andprograms resident in the memory 360, such as processes for referencesignal on a downlink channel. The processor 340 can move data into orout of the memory 360 as required by an executing process. In someembodiments, the processor 340 is configured to execute the applications362 based on the OS 361 or in response to signals received from gNBs oran operator. The processor 340 is also coupled to the I/O interface 345,which provides the UE 116 with the ability to connect to other devices,such as laptop computers and handheld computers. The I/O interface 345is the communication path between these accessories and the processor340.

The processor 340 is also coupled to the touchscreen 350 and the display355. The operator of the UE 116 can use the touchscreen 350 to enterdata into the UE 116. The display 355 may be a liquid crystal display,light emitting diode display, or other display capable of rendering textand/or at least limited graphics, such as from web sites.

The memory 360 is coupled to the processor 340. Part of the memory 360could include a random access memory (RAM), and another part of thememory 360 could include a Flash memory or other read-only memory (ROM).

Although FIG. 3 illustrates one example of UE 116, various changes maybe made to FIG. 3. For example, various components in FIG. 3 could becombined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components couldbe added according to particular needs. As a particular example, theprocessor 340 could be divided into multiple processors, such as one ormore central processing units (CPUs) and one or more graphics processingunits (GPUs). Also, while FIG. 3 illustrates the UE 116 configured as amobile telephone or smartphone, UEs could be configured to operate asother types of mobile or stationary devices.

FIG. 4A is a high-level diagram of transmit path circuitry 400. Forexample, the transmit path circuitry 400 may be used for an orthogonalfrequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication. FIG. 4B is ahigh-level diagram of receive path circuitry 450. For example, thereceive path circuitry 450 may be used for an OFDMA communication. InFIGS. 4A and 4B, for downlink communication, the transmit path circuitry400 may be implemented in a base station (e.g., gNB) 102 or a relaystation, and the receive path circuitry 450 may be implemented in a userequipment (e.g. user equipment 116 of FIG. 1). In other examples, foruplink communication, the receive path circuitry 450 may be implementedin a base station (e.g. gNB 102 of FIG. 1) or a relay station, and thetransmit path circuitry 400 may be implemented in a user equipment (e.g.user equipment 116 of FIG. 1).

Transmit path circuitry 400 comprises channel coding and modulationblock 405, serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 410, size N inverse fastFourier transform (IFFT) block 415, parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block420, add cyclic prefix block 425, and up-converter (UC) 430. Receivepath circuitry 450 comprises down-converter (DC) 455, remove cyclicprefix block 460, serial-to-parallel (S-to-P) block 465, Size n fastFourier transform (FFT) block 470, parallel-to-serial (P-to-S) block475, and channel decoding and demodulation block 480.

At least some of the components in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be implemented insoftware, while other components may be implemented by configurablehardware or a mixture of software and configurable hardware. Inparticular, it is noted that the FFT blocks and the IFFT blocksdescribed in this disclosure document may be implemented as configurablesoftware algorithms, where the value of size N may be modified accordingto the implementation.

Furthermore, although this disclosure is directed to an embodiment thatimplements the fast Fourier transform and the inverse fast Fouriertransform, this is by way of illustration only and should not beconstrued to limit the scope of the disclosure. It may be appreciatedthat in an alternate embodiment of the disclosure, the Fast FourierTransform functions and the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform functions mayeasily be replaced by discrete Fourier transform (DFT) functions andinverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) functions, respectively. Itmay be appreciated that for DFT and IDFT functions, the value of the Nvariable may be any integer number (i.e., 1, 4, 3, 4, etc.), while forFFT and IFFT functions, the value of the N variable may be any integernumber that is a power of two (i.e., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.).

In transmit path circuitry 400, channel coding and modulation block 405receives a set of information bits, applies coding (e.g., LDPC coding)and modulates (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM)) the input bits to produce a sequence offrequency-domain modulation symbols. Serial-to-parallel block 410converts (i.e., de-multiplexes) the serial modulated symbols to paralleldata to produce N parallel symbol streams where N is the IFFT/FFT sizeused in BS 102 and UE 116. Size N IFFT block 415 then performs an IFFToperation on the N parallel symbol streams to produce time-domain outputsignals. Parallel-to-serial block 420 converts (i.e., multiplexes) theparallel time-domain output symbols from Size N IFFT block 415 toproduce a serial time-domain signal. Add cyclic prefix block 425 theninserts a cyclic prefix to the time-domain signal. Finally, up-converter430 modulates (i.e., up-converts) the output of add cyclic prefix block425 to RF frequency for transmission via a wireless channel. The signalmay also be filtered at baseband before conversion to RF frequency.

The transmitted RF signal arrives at UE 116 after passing through thewireless channel, and reverse operations to those at gNB 102 areperformed. Down-converter 455 down-converts the received signal tobaseband frequency, and remove cyclic prefix block 460 removes thecyclic prefix to produce the serial time-domain baseband signal.Serial-to-parallel block 465 converts the time-domain baseband signal toparallel time-domain signals. Size N FFT block 470 then performs an FFTalgorithm to produce N parallel frequency-domain signals.Parallel-to-serial block 475 converts the parallel frequency-domainsignals to a sequence of modulated data symbols. Channel decoding anddemodulation block 480 demodulates and then decodes the modulatedsymbols to recover the original input data stream.

Each of gNBs 101-103 may implement a transmit path that is analogous totransmitting in the downlink to user equipment 111-116 and may implementa receive path that is analogous to receiving in the uplink from userequipment 111-116. Similarly, each one of user equipment 111-116 mayimplement a transmit path corresponding to the architecture fortransmitting in the uplink to gNBs 101-103 and may implement a receivepath corresponding to the architecture for receiving in the downlinkfrom gNBs 101-103.

DL transmissions or UL transmissions can be based on an OFDM waveformincluding a variant using DFT precoding that is known as DFT-spread-OFDMthat is typically applicable to UL transmissions.

A reference time unit for DL signaling or for UL signaling on a cell isreferred to as a slot and can include one or more slot symbols. Abandwidth (BW) unit is referred to as a resource block (RB). One RBincludes a number of sub-carriers (SCs). For example, a slot can haveduration of half millisecond or of one millisecond, include 7 symbols or14 symbols, respectively, and a RB can have a BW of 180 KHz and include12 SCs with inter-SC spacing of 15 KHz or a BW of 720 KHz and include 12SCs with inter-SC spacing of 60 KHz. A BW reception capability or a BWtransmission capability for a UE can be smaller than a DL system BW oran UL system BW, respectively, and different UEs can be configured DLreceptions or UL transmissions in different parts of a DL system BW orof an UL system BW, respectively, per slot. A slot can be a full DLslot, or a full UL slot, or a hybrid slot that includes both symbols forDL transmissions and symbols for UL transmissions, similar to a specialsubframe in time division duplex (TDD) systems. When a OFDM waveform isused for transmission, resource elements (REs) are equivalent to SCs.When a DFT-S-OFDM waveform is used for transmission, REs are equivalentto virtual SCs. The two terms are used interchangeably in thisdisclosure.

DL signals include data signals conveying information content, controlsignals conveying DL control information (DCI), and reference signals(RS) that are also known as pilot signals. A gNB transmits datainformation or DCI through respective physical DL shared channels(PDSCHs) or physical DL control channels (PDCCHs). A gNB transmits oneor more of multiple types of RS including channel state information RS(CSI-RS) and demodulation RS (DMRS). A CSI-RS is intended for UEs toperform measurements and provide channel state information (CSI) to agNB. A DMRS is typically transmitted only in a BW of a respective PDCCHor PDSCH and a UE can use the DMRS to demodulate DCI or datainformation. A DL DMRS or CSI-RS can be constructed by a Zadoff-Chu (ZC)sequence or a pseudo-noise (PN) sequence.

For channel measurement, non-zero power CSI-RS (NZP CSI-RS) resourcesare used. For interference measurement reports (IMRs), CSI interferencemeasurement (CSI-IM) resources associated with a zero power CSI-RS (ZPCSI-RS) configuration are used. A CSI process including NZP CSI-RS andCSI-IM resources. A UE can determine CSI-RS transmission parametersthrough higher layer signaling, such as radio resource control (RRC)signaling from a gNB. Transmission instances and resources of a CSI-RScan be indicated by DL control signaling or configured by higher layersignaling. A DMRS is transmitted only in the BW of a respective PDCCH orPDSCH and a UE can use the DMRS to demodulate data or controlinformation.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example DL slot structure 500 for transmission orPDCCH transmission according to embodiments of the present disclosure.An embodiment of the DL slot structure 500 for transmission or PDCCHtransmission shown in FIG. 5 is for illustration only. Other embodimentsmay be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

A slot 510 includes N_(symb) ^(DL) symbols 520 where a gNB transmitsdata information, DCI, or DMRS. A DL system BW includes N_(RB) ^(DL)RBs. Each RB includes N_(sc) ^(RB) SCs. For example, N_(sc) ^(RB)=12. AUE is assigned M_(PDSCH) RBs for a total of M_(sc)^(PDSCH)=M_(PDSCH)·N_(sc) ^(RB) SCs 530 for a PDSCH transmission BW. Afirst slot symbol 540 can be used by the gNB to transmit DCI and DMRS. Asecond slot symbol 550 can be used by the gNB to transmit DCI, DMRS, ordata information. Remaining slot symbols 560 can be used by the gNB totransmit data information, DMRS, and possibly CSI-RS. In some slots, thegNB can also transmit synchronization signals and system information.

UL signals also include data signals conveying information content,control signals conveying UL control information (UCI), DMRS associatedwith data or UCI demodulation, sounding RS (SRS) enabling a gNB toperform UL channel measurement, and a random access (RA) preambleenabling a UE to perform random access. A UE transmits data informationor UCI through a respective physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) or aphysical UL control channel (PUCCH). When a UE simultaneously transmitsdata information and UCI, the UE can multiplex both in a PUSCH. UCIincludes hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK)information, indicating correct or incorrect detection of data transportblocks (TBs) in a PDSCH, scheduling request (SR) indicating whether a UEhas data in the UE's buffer, and CSI reports enabling a gNB to selectappropriate parameters for PDSCH or PDCCH transmissions to a UE.

A CSI report from a UE can include a channel quality indicator (CQI)informing a gNB of a largest modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for theUE to detect a data TB with a predetermined block error rate (BLER),such as a 10% BLER, of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) informing agNB how to combine signals from multiple transmitter antennas inaccordance with a MIMO transmission principle, and of a rank indicator(RI) indicating a transmission rank for a PDSCH. RI and CSI can also bejointly coded with CSI and CSI can include two parts where CSI part 1can include RI, CRI, and some predetermined part of CSI while CSI part 2can include the remaining CSI. UL RS includes DMRS and SRS. DMRS istransmitted only in a BW of a respective PUSCH or PUCCH transmission. ADMRS or an SRS can be represented by a ZC sequence or a computergenerated (CG) sequence with predefined properties. A cyclic shift (CS)associated with a ZC sequence or a GC sequence can hop in time. Forexample, a gNB can explicitly or implicitly indicate to a UE a CS for aGC sequence that is applicable for a first DMRS transmission in a PUSCHor a PUCCH and the UE can determine a CS for subsequent DMRStransmissions in the PUSCH or the PUCCH based on a predefined CS hoppingpattern. A gNB can use a DMRS to demodulate information in a respectivePUSCH or PUCCH. SRS is transmitted by a UE to provide a gNB with an ULCSI and, for a TDD system, a SRS transmission can also provide a PMI forDL transmission. Additionally, in order to establish synchronization oran initial RRC connection with a gNB, a UE can transmit a physicalrandom access channel.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example UL slot structure 600 for PUSCHtransmission or PUCCH transmission according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. An embodiment of the UL slot structure 600 for PUSCHtransmission or PUCCH transmission shown in FIG. 6 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A slot 610 includes N_(symb) ^(UL) symbols 620 where a UE transmits datainformation, UCI, or RS including at least one symbol where the UEtransmits DMRS 630. An UL system BW includes N_(RB) ^(UL) RBs. Each RBincludes N_(sc) ^(RB) SCs. A UE is assigned M_(PUXCH) RBs for a total ofM_(sc) ^(PUXCH)=M_(PUXCH)·N_(sc) ^(RB) SCs 640 for a PUSCH transmissionBW (“X”=“S”) or for a PUCCH transmission BW (“X”=“C”). One or more lastslot symbols can be used to multiplex SRS transmissions 650 (or PUCCHtransmissions) from one or more UEs. A number of UL slot symbolsavailable for data/UCI/DMRS transmission is N_(symb)^(PUXCH)=2·(N_(symb) ^(UL)−1)−N_(SRS). N_(SRS)>0 when N_(SRS) last slotsymbols are used SRS transmissions (or PUCCH transmissions) from UEsthat overlap at least partially in BW with a PUXCH transmission BW;otherwise, N_(SRS)=0 Therefore, a number of total SCs for a PUXCHtransmission is M_(sc) ^(PUXCH)·N_(symb) ^(PUXCH). PUCCH transmissionand PUSCH transmission can also occur in a same slot; for example, a UEcan transmit PUSCH in earlier slot symbols and PUCCH in later slotsymbols.

A hybrid slot includes a DL transmission region, a guard period region,and an UL transmission region, similar to a special subframe in LTE. Forexample, a DL transmission region can contain PDCCH and PDSCHtransmissions and an UL transmission region can contain PUCCHtransmissions. For example, a DL transmission region can contain PDCCHtransmissions and an UL transmission region can contain PUSCH and PUCCHtransmissions.

A PDCCH transmission can be over a number of control channel elements(CCEs). A UE typically performs multiple PDCCH decoding operations todetect DCI formats in a TTI. The UE determines locations of CCEs for aPDCCH reception (PDCCH candidate) according to a search space functionfor a corresponding CCE aggregation level. A DCI format includes cyclicredundancy check (CRC) bits in order for the UE to confirm a correctdetection of the DCI format. A DCI format type is identified by a radionetwork temporary identifier (RNTI) that scrambles the CRC.

In the following, a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH transmission to a UEis referred to as DL DCI format or DL assignment while a DCI formatscheduling a PUSCH transmission from a UE is referred to as UL DCIformat or UL grant. A DL DCI format or an UL DCI format includes a newdata indicator (NDI) field indicating whether a data transport block(TB) transmission scheduled by the DL DCI or the UL DCI in a PDSCH or aPUSCH, respectively, is a new data TB or a previously transmitted dataTB for an associated HARQ process.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example transmitter structure 700 using OFDMaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of thetransmitter structure 700 shown in FIG. 7 is for illustration only.Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Information bits, such as DCI bits or data bits 710, are encoded byencoder 720, rate matched to assigned time/frequency resources by ratematcher 730, and modulated by modulator 740. Subsequently, modulatedencoded symbols and DMRS or SRS 750 are mapped to SCs 760 by SC mappingunit 765, an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) is performed byfilter 770, a cyclic prefix (CP) is added by CP insertion unit 780, anda resulting signal is filtered by filter 790 and transmitted by an radiofrequency (RF) unit 795.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example receiver structure 800 using OFDMaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of thereceiver structure 800 shown in FIG. 8 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A received signal 810 is filtered by filter 820, a CP removal unitremoves a CP 830, a filter 840 applies a fast Fourier transform (FFT),SCs de-mapping unit 850 de-maps SCs selected by BW selector unit 855,received symbols are demodulated by a channel estimator and ademodulator unit 860, a rate de-matcher 870 restores a rate matching,and a decoder 880 decodes the resulting bits to provide information bits890.

When a UE transmits HARQ-ACK bits, RI bits, or CSI-RS resource indicator(CRI) bits in a PUSCH that conveys one data TB, the UE determines anumber of coded modulation symbols per layer Q′ for HARQ-ACK as inEquation 1. A similar determination applies when a PUSCH conveys morethan one data TB such as two data TBs.

$\begin{matrix}{Q^{\prime} = {\min\left( {\left\lceil \frac{O \cdot M_{sc}^{{PUSCH} - {initial}} \cdot N_{symb}^{{PUSCH} - {initial}} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{\sum\limits_{r = 0}^{C - 1}K_{r}} \right\rceil,{4 \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH}}} \right)}} & {\left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right)\;}\end{matrix}$

where O is the number of HARQ-ACK bits, RI bits, or CRI bits, M_(sc)^(PUSCH) is a scheduled PUSCH transmission BW, in number of SCs, in acurrent slot for the data TB, and N_(symb) ^(PUSCH-initial) is a numberof slot symbols for initial PUSCH transmission for the same data TB,β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(HARQ-ACK) for HARQ-ACK transmission orβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(RI) is a parameter configured to the UEby a gNB through higher layer signaling, M_(sc) ^(PUSCH-initial), C, andK_(r) are obtained from the DCI format conveyed in initial DL controlchannel for the same data TB. If there is no initial DL control channelfor the same data TB, M_(sc) ^(PUSCH-initial), C, and K_(r) aredetermined from the most recent semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)assignment when the initial PUSCH for the same data TB is SPS or fromthe random access response grant for the same data TB when the PUSCH isinitiated by the random access response grant. Further, C is a number ofcode blocks (CBs) in the data TB and K_(r) is a size of CB r, ┌ ┐ is theceiling function that rounds a number to the next higher integer, andmin(x, y) is the minimum function resulting the smaller of x or y.

When a UE transmits CQI or PMI in a PUSCH (denoted as CQI/PMI andjointly referred to as CSI for brevity), the UE determines a number ofcoded modulation symbols per layer Q′ as in Equation 2. For multi-beamoperation with analog or hybrid beamforming, a CSI report can include,in addition to CQI and PMI, beam state information (BSI) or beam relatedinformation (BRI).

$\begin{matrix}{Q^{\prime} = {\min \left( {\left\lceil \frac{\begin{matrix}{\left( {O + L} \right) \cdot M_{sc}^{{PUSCH} - {{initial}{(x)}}} \cdot} \\{N_{symb}^{{PUSCH} - {{initial}{(x)}}} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}}{\sum\limits_{r = 0}^{C^{(x)} - 1}K_{r}^{(x)}} \right\rceil,{{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH}} - \frac{Q_{RI}^{(x)}}{Q_{m}^{(x)}}}} \right)}} & {\left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\;}\end{matrix}$

where O is the number of CQI/PMI bits, and L is the number of cyclicredundancy check

${({CRC})\mspace{14mu} {bits}\mspace{14mu} {given}\mspace{14mu} {by}\mspace{14mu} L} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix}0 & {O \leq 11} \\8 & {otherwise}\end{matrix},} \right.$

and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(CQI) is a parameter configured tothe UE by a gNB through higher layer signaling Q_(CQI)=Q_(m) ^((x))·Q′and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(CQI), where β_(offset) ^(CQI) maybe determined according to the LTE specification depending on the numberof transmission codewords for the corresponding PUSCH, and on the ULpower control set for the corresponding PUSCH when two UL power controlsets are configured by higher layers for the cell.

If RI is not transmitted then Q_(RI) ^((x))=0. Remaining notation issimilar to the one described for HARQ-ACK and is not described forbrevity. The variable “x” in K_(r) ^((x)) represents a TB indexcorresponding to a highest MCS value indicated by an initial UL DCIformat.

Control and data multiplexing is performed such that HARQ-ACKinformation is present on both slots and is mapped to resources aroundthe DMRS. The inputs to the data and control multiplexing are the codedbits of the control information denoted by q₀, q₁, q₂, q₃, . . . , q_(N)_(L) _(-Q) _(CQI) ₋₁ and the coded bits of the UL-SCH denoted by f₀, f₁,f₂, f₃, . . . , f_(G-1). The output of the data and control multiplexingoperation is denoted by g₀, g₁, g₂ g₃, . . . , g_(H′-1), whereH=(G+N_(L)·Q_(CQI)) and H′=H/(N_(L)·Q_(m)), and where g_(i), i=0, . . ., H′−1 are column vectors of length (Q_(m)·N_(L)). H is the total numberof coded bits allocated for data and CQI/PMI information across theN_(L) transmission layers of the data TB. Control and data multiplexingin case more than one data TB is transmitted in a PUSCH is described inLTE specification and additional description in this disclosure isomitted for brevity.

For UCI multiplexing in a PUSCH as described in LTE specification,HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol puncture data coded modulation symbols.This can be problematic in case of relatively large HARQ-ACK informationpayloads. Also, when a gNB does not correctly detect a RI value, the gNBdoes not have a correct understanding of an associated CSI payload thatis transmitted from a UE. As a UE rate matches a transmission of datacoded modulation symbols based on CSI coded modulation symbols, anincorrect understanding at a receiving gNB of a number of CSI codedmodulation symbols (due to an incorrect understanding of CSI informationpayload) can lead to HARQ soft buffer corruption for data TBs.

A PUSCH transmission can convey only A-CSI, and can also includeHARQ-ACK or RI, without including any data. When a UE detects an UL DCIformat with a CSI request triggering an A-CSI report in a PUSCHtransmission, the UE can determine to not include data in the PUSCHtransmission when the UE reports CSI for one serving cell and the PUSCHis scheduled in 4 or less RBs and an MCS index in the UL DCI format is alast MCS index. Other condition can also apply depending on a respectiveoperation scenario as described in LTE specification. A CSI requestfield in an UL DCI format includes a predefined number of bits, such as1 bit or 2 bits. For example, a mapping of the 2 bits can be as in TABLE1.

TABLE 1 Mapping of CSI request field to CSI reports a UE provides in aPUSCH Value of CSI request field Description “00” No aperiodic CSIreport is triggered “01” Aperiodic CSI report is triggered for servingcell c “10” Aperiodic CSI report is triggered for a 1^(st) set ofserving cells configured by higher layers “11” Aperiodic CSI report istriggered for a 2^(nd) set of serving cells configured by higher layers

When a UE multiplexed only UCI (without data) in a PUSCH transmissionand the UE also transmits HARQ-ACK bits or RI bits, the UE determines anumber of coded symbols Q′ for HARQ-ACK or RI as in Equation 3

$\begin{matrix}{Q^{\prime} = {\min\left( {\left\lceil \frac{O \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{O_{{CQI} - {MIN}}} \right\rceil,{4 \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH}}} \right)}} & {\left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \right)\;}\end{matrix}$

where O is a number of HARQ-ACK bits or RI/CRI bits and O_(CQI-MIN) is anumber of CQI bits including CRC bits assuming rank equals to 1 forserving cells that an A-CSI is triggered for. For HARQ-ACKQ_(ACK)=Q_(m)·Q′ and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset)^(HARQ-ACK)/β_(offset) ^(CQI). For RI/CRI, Q_(RI)=Q_(m)·Q′,Q_(CRI)=Q_(m)·Q′ and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(RI)/β_(offset)^(CQI). For CSI, Q_(CQI)=N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)·Q_(m)−Q_(RI).One problem with the determination of a number of HARQ-ACK or RI/CRIcoded modulation symbols in Equation 3 is that the number is not basedon an actual CSI MCS but is instead based on a smallest CSI MCSresulting from using the smallest possible CSI payload (O_(CQI-MIN)bits). As a consequence, a number of HARQ-ACK or RI coded modulationsymbols in Equation 3 can be significantly over-dimensioned, for exampleby more than 100%.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example transmitter block diagram 900 for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. An embodiment of the transmitter block diagram 900 shown inFIG. 9 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, coded CSI symbols 905, when any, and coded datasymbols 910, when any, are multiplexed by multiplexer 920. CodedHARQ-ACK symbols, when any, are then inserted by multiplexer 930 bypuncturing data symbols and/or CSI symbols. A transmission of coded RIsymbols, if any, is similar to one for coded HARQ-ACK symbols (notshown). When a DFT-S-OFDM waveform is used for transmission, a DiscreteFourier Transform (DFT) is applied by DFT unit 940 (no DFT is applied incase of an OFDM waveform), REs 950 corresponding to a PUSCH transmissionBW are selected by selector 955, an IFFT is performed by IFFT unit 960,an output is filtered and by filter 970 and applied a certain power byPower Amplifier (PA) 980 and a signal is then transmitted 990. Due tothe DFT mapping, the REs can be viewed as virtual REs but are referredto as REs for simplicity. If any of data, CSI, HARQ-ACK, or RI is nottransmitted, a block in FIG. 9 corresponding to a respective transmitterprocessing function is omitted. For brevity, additional transmittercircuitry such as digital-to-analog converter, filters, amplifiers, andtransmitter antennas as well as encoders and modulators for data symbolsand UCI symbols are omitted for brevity.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example receiver block diagram 1000 for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. An embodiment of the receiver block diagram 1000 shown inFIG. 10 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, a received signal 1010 is filtered by filter 1020,an FFT is applied by FFT unit 1030, a selector unit 1040 selects REs1050 used by a transmitter, an Inverse DFT (IDFT) unit applies an IDFT1060 when a DFT-S-OFDM waveform is used for transmission, ade-multiplexer 1070 extracts coded HARQ-ACK symbols, if any, and placeserasures in corresponding REs for data symbols and CSI symbols andfinally another de-multiplexer 1080 separates coded data symbols 1090,if any, and coded CSI symbols 1095, if any. A reception of coded RIsymbols, if any, is similar to one for coded HARQ-ACK symbols (notshown). If any of data, CSI, HARQ-ACK, or RI is not transmitted, a blockin FIG. 10 corresponding to a respective receiver processing function isomitted. Additional receiver circuitry such as a channel estimator,demodulators and decoders for data and UCI symbols are not shown forbrevity.

The determination of a number of coded modulation symbols for a UCI typeper layer Q′, as in Equation 1 or Equation 2, is based on non-adaptiveretransmissions and use parameters associated with an initial PUSCHtransmission for the same data TB. Such determination is disadvantageouswhen UCI is multiplexed in an adaptive retransmission of a data TB thatis in response to an UL DCI format or in an adaptive retransmission ofsome code blocks (CBs) of a TB, for example when a UE provides HARQ-ACKfeedback per number of CBs in a TB instead of the whole TB.

A determination of a number of coded modulation symbols for a UCI typeper layer Q′, as in Equation 1 or Equation 2, is also based on a singlerespective β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) that a gNB configures to a UE by higherlayer signaling. This is restrictive as it does not allow a gNB totarget different BLERs for data transmissions corresponding to differentservices. Further, it is too restrictive and generally not possible fora gNB scheduler to maintain a same PUSCH transmission power for aninitial data TB transmission and for a HARQ retransmission of the dataTB. When a PUSCH transmission power is not same for an initialtransmission and for a HARQ retransmission of a data TB, a determinationof coded UCI symbols in a PUSCH conveying a retransmission of a data TB,as in Equation 1 or Equation 2, can be highly inaccurate when arespective transmission power is different than for the initialtransmission of the data TB and either lead to unnecessary UCI overheador to worse UCI BLER.

In a system operation as described in LTE specification, and for a slotthat includes fourteen symbols, DMRS associated with a transmission ofan UL data channel is placed in the fourth and eleventh slot symbolsstarting, HARQ-ACK information is equally distributed in the third,fifth, tenth, and twelfth slot symbols starting from a SC with a lowestindex, RI/CRI information is equally distributed in the second, sixth,ninth, and thirteenth slot symbols starting from a SC with a lowestindex while CSI is distributed across all symbols in a slot startingfrom a SC with a highest index. A reason for placing HARQ-ACKinformation next to slot symbols used for DMRS transmission is toprovide robustness against Doppler shift to a reception reliability ofHARQ-ACK information that is prioritized in importance over other UCItypes.

In order to improve a decoding latency, a different slot structure canalso be considered where DMRS transmission occurs at a first UL symbolof a slot in order to enable a receiver to obtain a channel estimate assoon as possible and then proceed with decoding of code blocks that areassumed to be first mapped in a frequency domain. Additional slotsymbols can be used for DMRS transmission, when needed, for example toprovide robustness against Doppler shift or to improve an accuracy of achannel estimate. A slot structure can also have a variable number ofsymbols available for transmission of data information, UCI, or DMRS.For example, a hybrid slot can include seven symbols where a firstsymbol can be used for transmission of DL control information, a secondsymbol can be a gap symbol, a next four symbols can be used fortransmissions of DMRS, data, or UCI from UEs and a seventh symbol can beused for other transmissions such as for SRS or other UCI. A mapping ofUCI types to slot symbols as described in LTE specification cannot applywhen a first slot symbol is used for DMRS transmission, or when avariable number of slot symbols are used for DMRS transmission, or whena slot can include a variable number of symbols available fortransmission of DMRS, data, and UCI.

Therefore, there is a need to improve a determination for a number ofcoded symbols per layer for transmission of a UCI type in a PUSCHconveying an initial transmission of a data TB or an adaptiveretransmission of the data TB.

In some embodiments, there is another need to improve a determinationfor a number of coded symbols per layer for transmission of a UCI typein a PUSCH conveying an adaptive retransmission of data CBs where theadaptive retransmission includes different data CBs than the initialtransmission of the data CBs.

In some embodiments, there is another need to improve a determinationfor a number of coded symbols per layer for transmission of a UCI typein a PUSCH when the PUSCH conveys only UCI.

In some embodiments, there is a need to determine a multiplexing ofcoded symbols for various UCI types in a PUSCH that minimizes an impacton data reception reliability and improves UCI reception reliability.

In the following, for brevity, data information is assumed to betransmitted using one data TB that can include one or more data CBs.Associated description of embodiments can be directly extended in casemore than one data TBs are supported. Further, a DCI format scheduling aPUSCH transmission is referred to as UL DCI format while a DCI formatscheduling a PDSCH transmission is referred to as DL DCI format.

In some embodiments, decoupling BLER of data information from BLER ofUCI is multiplexed with data information in a PUSCH transmission.

In one example, a UE is configured different β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) valuesfor use in determining a number of coded modulation symbols formultiplexing a UCI type in a PUSCH for when the PUSCH conveys an initialtransmission of a data TB and when the PUSCH conveys a retransmission ofa data TB. For example, a UE can be configured a first β_(offset,0)^(PUSCH) value for multiplexing a respective UCI type in a PUSCH whenthe PUSCH conveys an initial data TB transmission and configured asecond β_(offset,1) ^(PUSCH) value for multiplexing a respective UCItype in a PUSCH when the PUSCH conveys a HARQ retransmission of a dataTB. The second β_(offset,1) ^(PUSCH) value can be same for all HARQretransmissions even when incremental redundancy with a differentredundancy version is used for each HARQ retransmission. Alternatively,a β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value for an associated UCI type can be separatelyconfigured for each of the maximum number of HARQ retransmissions for adata TB.

A configuration of different β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values for determininga number of coded modulation symbols for a respective UCI type when aPUSCH conveys an initial transmission of a data TB and when a PUSCHconveys a retransmission of a data TB is beneficial for enabling ascheduler to target different BLERs for the initial TB transmission andfor the retransmission while achieving a UCI type BLER that isindependent of whether the multiplexing occurs in a PUSCH that conveysan initial data TB transmission or a data TB retransmission.

As, for a given signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR), a BLERfor a UCI type for transmission in a PUSCH is linked to a BLER of a dataTB, for example as in Equation 1 or Equation 2, and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)is the parameter that adjusts this link to establish independent BLERfor the UCI type and for the data TB, a separate configuration ofβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values when a UCI type transmission is in a PUSCHthat conveys an initial data TB transmission and when the UCI typetransmission is in a PUSCH that conveys a HARQ retransmission for thedata TB allows a scheduler to target different BLERs for an initial dataTB transmission and for a data TB HARQ retransmission.

For example, as a target BLER for a HARQ retransmission of a data TB canbe larger than a BLER for an initial transmission of the data TB, giventhat a receiver can combine data symbols in a retransmission of a dataTB with data symbols in an initial transmission of the data TB toachieve a lower BLER than the BLER of the HARQ retransmission by itself,a UE can be configured a larger β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value fordetermining a number of coded modulation symbols for a UCI type when amultiplexing is in a PUSCH conveying a HARQ retransmission for a data TBthan when the multiplexing is in a PUSCH conveying an initialtransmission for a data TB. For maximum flexibility in selecting targetBLERs for data TB(s) for initial transmission and for each of a maximumnumber of HARQ retransmissions, a configuration of a β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)value for each UCI type can be separate for each correspondingtransmission. Further, when it is desirable to reduce higher layersignaling overhead, a single β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value configuration canapply for all HARQ retransmissions as the largest target BLER differenceis typically between an initial transmission and a first HARQretransmission of a data TB and HARQ retransmissions typically have asimilar target BLER for a data TB.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example process 1100 for a UE to determineβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to apply for determining a number of codedmodulation symbols in a PUSCH depending on whether or not the PUSCHconveys an initial transmission of a retransmission of a data TBaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of theprocess 1100 shown in FIG. 11 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A UE is configured by a gNB a set of β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values for aUCI type for the UE to apply for determining a number of codedmodulation symbols for the UCI type in a PUSCH transmission 1110. Eachβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value in the set of β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values isassociated with an initial transmission or a retransmission of a data TBand a same β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value or different β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)values can apply to different retransmissions. The UE detects an UL DCIformat scheduling a PUSCH transmission for a data TB associated with aHARQ process 1120. The UE determines a redundancy version associatedwith the transmission of a data TB, in case incremental redundancy isused for HARQ retransmissions, or whether the UE needs to retransmit adata TB for the HARQ process in case chase combining is used for HARQretransmissions 1130. Based on the determination, the UE subsequentlydetermines a first β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value, when the PUSCHtransmission conveys an initial transmission of a data TB, 1140 ordetermines a second β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value, when the PUSCHtransmission conveys a retransmission of a data TB, 1140 to use fordetermining a number of coded modulation symbols for the UCI type in thePUSCH transmission.

In many practical deployments, it is also beneficial for a scheduler totarget different BLER values for an initial transmission of a data TB,or for a retransmission of a data TB, depending on a service type ordepending on a network traffic or interference conditions, and so on.For example, a scheduler can target a lower BLER for transmissions froma UE of data TBs associated with service types requiring lower latency,or when an associated interference to other UEs is small, or when the UEis not power limited, and so on.

As such scheduler decisions can be dynamic, configuration of aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to a UE by higher layer signaling fordetermining a number of coded modulation symbols for multiplexing a UCItype in a PUSCH can be suboptimal for achieving a target BLER for theUCI type or for improving scheduling of a data TB. Additionally, anumber of coded modulation symbols obtained according to Equation 1 orEquation 2 is scaled linearly by a UCI type payload while a BLER for theUCI type is a non-linear function of the UCI type payload due to codinggains associated with a coding scheme such as a block code, atail-biting convolutional code, or a polar code relative to a repetitioncode. A dynamic determination of a β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value can accountfor coding gains according to the UCI type payload. Also, in Equation 1or Equation 2, a number of coded modulation symbols for a UCI type arebased on an initial transmission for a data TB and this can beproblematic as it fails to account for a different transmission powerwhen the UCI type is multiplexed in a PUSCH transmission conveying aretransmission of a data TB.

The above limitations associated with configuration by higher layersignaling of a single β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value for determining a numberof coded modulation symbols for a UCI type in a PUSCH can be remedied byconfiguring to a UE, through higher layer signaling, a set of β_(offset)^(PUSCH) values for a respective UCI type and dynamically signalingβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value in an UL DCI format that schedules a PUSCHtransmission. For example, a gNB can configure a UE by higher layersignaling a set of four β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values and a DCI formatscheduling a PUSCH transmission from a UE can include a field of twobits to indicate a β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value from the set of fourβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values.

Separate configurations can apply when a PUSCH conveys initialtransmission of a data TB and when the PUSCH conveys retransmissions ofa data TB. When multiple UCI types are multiplexed in a PUSCHtransmission, a same UCI offset indicator field can apply for indexing aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value from the set of β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values foreach UCI type. For example, for a UCI offset indicator field of 2 bits,with possible values of “00,” “01,” “10,” and “11.” The “10” value canbe used to indicate the third offset from the respective set of offsetsfor each UCI type, such as HARQ-ACK or CSI, that is multiplexed in arespective PUSCH transmission.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example process 1200 for a UE to determine aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to apply for determining a number of codedmodulation symbols in a PUSCH transmission based on signaling in anassociated UL DCI format according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. An embodiment of the process 1200 shown in FIG. 12 is forillustration only. Other embodiments may be used without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

A UE receives a configuration for a set of β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) valuesassociated with a UCI type for transmission in a PUSCH 1210.Subsequently, the UE detects an UL DCI format scheduling a PUSCHtransmission where the UE is to multiplex the UCI type 1220. The UL DCIformat includes a field indicating a β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value from theset of β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values 1230. Based on the indicatedβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value, the UE determines a number of codedmodulation symbols for multiplexing in the PUSCH transmission 1240. Forexample, the determination can be according to Equation 1 or Equation 2.

When a PUSCH transmission is semi-persistently scheduled (SPS) by higherlayer signaling, a gNB can configure a UE with a different β_(offset)^(PUSCH) value for a UCI type for at least two different service typesusing SPS PUSCH transmissions.

When different DCI formats are used for scheduling PUSCH transmissionswith different target BLERs and a UE is configured by higher layersdifferent β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) values, the UE can determine a β_(offset)^(PUSCH) value to use for determining a number of UCI coded modulationsymbols based on the associated DCI format. When a same DCI format isused for scheduling PUSCH transmissions with different target BLERs anda UE is configured by higher layers different β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)values, the UE can determine β_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value to use fordetermining a number of UCI coded modulation symbols either explicitlybased on a respective index field in the DCI format or implicitly basedon an indication for a configuration of parameters for the UE to use indetermining a PUSCH transmission power.

When a PUSCH transmission is initiated by a UE without an associated ULDCI format transmission from a gNB, UCI multiplexing in the PUSCH can beprecluded as a reliability of such PUSCH transmissions can beunpredictable and a successful reception of associated data TB(s) cantypically rely on repetitions or HARQ retransmissions that cannottypically benefit a UCI transmission. This UE behavior can be by networkconfiguration where a UE can be configured whether to multiplex UCI in aPUSCH or drop the PUSCH transmission and transmit UCI in a PUCCH.Alternatively, a DL DCI format can include a field indicating aresource, from a set of resources configured by higher layers to the UE,for an associated HARQ-ACK transmission and one or more of the resourcescan also support a PUSCH transmission with a predetermined MCS and RBallocation.

For example, one or more resource from the configured resources can beassociated with a set of a PUCCH resource and one or more PUSCHresources. When a UE does not have data to transmit, the UE can transmitHARQ-ACK by transmitting a PUCCH on the PUCCH resource. When the UE hasdata to transmit, the UE can transmit both HARQ-ACK and data bytransmitting a PUSCH on one of the PUSCH resources. Each PUSCH resourcecan also be configured with an MCS for data transmission and a RBallocation and the UE can select a PUSCH resource according to a size ofa data TB.

In some embodiments, a determination for a number of coded modulationsymbols (per layer) for a UCI and a multiplexing of UCI types in a PUSCHare considered.

A PUSCH transmission from a UE in a slot includes, for example, onesymbol for DMRS transmission that is a first UL symbol in the slot thatcan be used by the UE to transmit the PUSCH. This is not necessarily thefirst symbol of the slot as, for example, there can be DL transmissionsat the beginning of the slot such as in case of a hybrid slot. In thefollowing descriptions, unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, the term“first symbol of a slot” refers to a first symbol available for PUSCHtransmission in a slot. Additional DMRS symbols can be configured to aUE for a PUSCH transmission in a slot by a DCI format scheduling thePUSCH transmission or by higher layer signaling.

Unlike UCI multiplexing as described in LTE specification where HARQ-ACKand RI/CRI are placed in different slot symbols and CSI is mapped in atime-first manner, differently than HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI, this disclosureconsiders that (a) mapping of different UCI types can be consecutive,first in frequency and then in time, (b) different UCI types can bemapped on a same slot symbol, (c) mapping is according to UCI typestarting with HARQ-ACK symbols (when any), continuing with RI/CRIsymbols (when any—can also be jointly coded with CSI), continuing withdata symbols (when any) or CSI symbols of a first type (when any), andconcluding with CSI symbols of a second type (when any) or data symbols(when any) Mapping of UCI coded modulation symbols or of data codedmodulation excludes slot symbols, or SCs in slot symbols, used for DMRStransmission or for transmission of other signaling such as SRS.Remaining slot symbols or SCs are referred to as available slot symbolsor as available SCs. As is subsequently described, a part of CSI andRI/CRI (CSI part 1) can also be jointly coded in a same codeword andremaining CSI (CSI part 2) can be coded in a second codeword.

UCI multiplexing in this disclosure considers that there is noambiguity, with material probability, between a transmitting UE and areceiving gNB of whether or not a PUSCH transmission includes UCImultiplexing. Further, with an exception for CSI multiplexing as issubsequently discussed, there is also no ambiguity in a number ofresources used for multiplexing each UCI type in a PUSCH transmission.Additionally, for a UCI type, such as for example HARQ-ACK or CSI, a gNBcan configure a UE whether to multiplex the UCI type in a PUSCHtransmission or to separately transmit the UCI type in a PUCCH.

When a UE is configured, by an UL DCI format or by higher layersignaling, to multiplex HARQ-ACK in a PUSCH transmission, there can beseveral mechanisms for the UE to determine a HARQ-ACK payload tomultiplex in the PUSCH transmission. For example, an UL DCI format caninclude (a) DAI fields with operation as described in LTE specificationfor a TDD) system, including operation with carrier aggregation, or (b)an indication for the UE to multiplex HARQ-ACK information in the PUSCHwhere a HARQ-ACK payload is predetermined according to a codebook size,or (c) a direct indication of HARQ processes to be acknowledged by theUE. HARQ-ACK can be per TB, per group of CBs, or per CB. An RI/CRIpayload is configured by higher layers and there is no ambiguity betweena gNB and a UE regarding the RI/CRI payload.

When a UE determines a total CSI payload according to a RI value the UEtransmits to a gNB either separately prior to or jointly simultaneouslywith the CSI transmission, there can be an ambiguity between the gNB andthe U when the gNB fails to correctly detect the RI value. For example,a CSI payload (or CSI part 2) is typically larger when an associatedrank is larger. A gNB can attempt to detect a CSI (or CSI part 2)codeword according to more than one hypothesis for an associatedpayload. F or example, when the gNB fails to detect a CSI (or CSI part2) codeword according to a payload determined from a last detected valuefor RI (or CSI part 1 when it includes RI), the gNB can decode again theCSI (or CSI part 2) codeword assuming a different RI value correspondingto a different CSI (or CSI part 2) payload. However, when RI or CSIcorresponds to multiple cells, a number of corresponding hypothesesincreases due to the increased combinations for a possible CSI (or CSIpart 2) payload. It is generally beneficial to minimize an impact ondata detection when a gNB incorrectly detects a RI value andconsequently incorrectly determines a CSI (or CSI part 2) payloadmultiplexed in a PUSCH transmission. This can be achieved, as issubsequently described, by making a starting position of each data CB ina PUSCH transmission independent of an actual CSI (or CSI part 2)payload.

A mapping of UCI coded modulation symbols to SCs can be defined toachieve at least a predetermined order of frequency diversity, such asan order of 2 or 4. Assuming a PUSCH transmission over a BW of M_(sc)^(PUSCH) SCs, a number of M_(sc) ^(HARQ) SCs for transmission ofHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols, a number of M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI) SCs fortransmission of RI/CRI coded modulation symbols, and a number of M_(sc)^(CSI) SCs for transmission of CSI coded modulation symbols, thefollowing can apply.

In one example, HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols are first mapped toSCs of a PUSCH transmission. When M_(sc) ^(HARQ)≤M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) in afirst slot symbol (and not used for DMRS transmission), HARQ-ACKtransmission is in four groups of consecutive SCs to achieve a frequencydiversity order of four. The first and second groups include ┌M_(sc)^(HARQ)/4┐ consecutive available SCs and the third and fourth groupsinclude └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/4┘ consecutive available SCs (or the reverse),where └ ┘ is the floor function that rounds a number to the previoushigher integer. A first SC for the first, second, third, and fourthgroups of SCs is determined as 0, M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/4, M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/2,and 3·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/4 (assuming that M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) is a multiple of4). An offset can also be added to the above first SCs to shift theirlocation. When M_(sc) ^(HARQ)≤M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), transmission of HARQ-ACKcoded modulation symbols is in all available SCs of first └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) ┘ consecutive slot symbols that are not used forDMRS transmission and remaining M_(sc,rem) ^(HARQ)=M_(sc)^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols are transmitted in a next slot symbol in a samemanner as described for M_(sc) ^(HARQ)≤M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) by replacingM_(sc) ^(HARQ) with M_(sc,rem) ^(HARQ). The above can be generalized toany number of groups, other than four groups, such as two groups oreight groups for a corresponding frequency diversity order of two oreight.

For RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) transmission in a slot, when there is noHARQ-ACK transmission in the slot, the multiplexing of RI/CRI codedmodulation symbols to SCs is as for HARQ-ACK transmission. When there isHARQ-ACK transmission in the slot, two options are considered. In afirst option, transmission of RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulationsymbols starts from a slot symbol that is not used for DMRS transmissionand is after a last slot symbol used for transmission of HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols, when any. The multiplexing of RI/CSI (or CSI part 1)coded modulation symbols to SCs is as for a HARQ-ACK transmission.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example mapping 1300 to sub-carriers on a PUSCHof coded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (or CSI part 1),and data according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anembodiment of the mapping 1300 shown in FIG. 13 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1310 in a first slotsymbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE can also transmit DMRS inone or more other slot symbols. The UE requires M_(sc) ^(HARQ)=32 SCs totransmit HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols and M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs totransmit RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols. Since M_(sc)^(HARQ)>M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), the UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols on all M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) SCs in └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)┘=1slot symbol that is a second slot symbol 1320. The UE transmits HARQ-ACKcoded modulation symbols on remaining M_(sc,rem) ^(HARQ)=M_(sc)^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=8 SCs in athird slot symbol.

The M_(sc,rem) ^(HARQ) SCs are divided into four groups of └M_(sc,rem)^(HARQ)/4┘=┌M_(sc,rem) ^(HARQ)/4┐=2 consecutive SCs where the firstgroup starts from SC 0 1330, the second group starts from SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/4=6 (not shown), the third group starts from SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/2=12 (not shown), and the fourth group starts from SC 3·M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/4=18 1332. The UE transmits RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) codedmodulation symbols in a fourth slot symbol over M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs1340 that are divided into four groups of └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/4┘=┌M_(sc)^(RI/CRI)/4┐=2 consecutive SCs where the first group starts from SC 01340, the second group starts from SC M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/4=6 (not shown),the third group starts from SC M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/2=12 (not shown), and thefourth group starts from SC 3·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/4=18 1342. The UEtransmits data 1350 in remaining slot symbols.

In another example, RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) transmission starts from alast slot symbol used for transmission of HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols when there are available SCs in that slot symbol. When RI/CRI(or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols can be transmitted in a lastslot symbol used for transmission of HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols,when any, that is when M_(sc) ^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc)^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)+M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)≤M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), there areagain four groups of consecutive SCs for RI/CRI transmission, where afirst SC for each RI/CRI SC group is after a last SC for a HARQ-ACK SCgroup with a same index. When M_(sc) ^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc)^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)+M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)≤M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)a number ofM_(sc,0) ^(RI/CRI)=M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−M_(sc) ^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc)^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) remaining sub-carries in the last slot symbolfor HARQ-ACK transmission are used for RI/CRI (or CSI part 1)transmission and remaining SCs are determined as for the first option byusing M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)−M_(sc,0) ^(RI/CRI), instead of M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI),for a number of SCs needed to multiplex RI/CRI coded modulation symbols.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example mapping 1400 to sub-carriers on a PUSCHof coded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (or CSI part 1),and data according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anembodiment of the mapping 1400 shown in FIG. 14 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1410 in a first slotsymbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE can also transmit DMRS inone or more other slot symbols. The UE requires M_(sc) ^(HARQ)=16 SCs totransmit HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols and M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 totransmit RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols. Since M_(sc)^(HARQ)−└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)┘·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)+M_(sc)^(RI/CRI)=16+0·24+8=M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), the UE transmits all HARQ-ACK andRI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols in a second slot symbol.

The UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols over M_(sc)^(HARQ)=16 SCs 1420 that are divided into four groups of └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/4=┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/4┐=4 consecutive SCs where the first groupstarts from SC 0 1422, the second group starts from SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/4=6 (not shown), the third group starts from SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/2=12 (not shown), and the fourth group starts from SC 3·M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/4=18 1424. The UE transmits RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) codedmodulation symbols over M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs 1430 that are dividedinto four groups of └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)//4┘=┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/4┐=2consecutive SCs where the first group starts from SC └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/4┘=4 1432, the second group starts from SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)/4+└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/4┘=10 (not shown), the third group startsfrom SC M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/2+└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/4┘=16 (not shown), and thefourth group starts from SC 3·M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)/4+└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/4┘=221434. The UE transmits data 1440 in remaining slot symbols.

In yet another example, a UE transmits UCI coded modulation symbols in aPUSCH across all available slot symbols where in a first number ofavailable slot symbols, N_(symb) ¹, the transmission is at (or near to)one end of a PUSCH transmission BW and in a second number of availableslot symbols, N_(symb) ², the transmission is at (or near to) the otherend of the PUSCH transmission BW. For a total number of N_(symb)^(PUSCH) available symbols, the first number can be the first ┌N_(symb)^(PUSCH)/2┐ available slot symbols and the second number can be the last└N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)/2┘ available slot symbols (or the reverse). Insteadof using a total number of available symbols for transmission, a numberof slot symbols N_(slot) can be used and the first number of slotsymbols can be the number of available symbols in the first ┌N_(dlot)/2┐slot symbols and the second number of slot symbols can be the number ofavailable symbols in the last └N_(slot)/2┘ slot symbols. For example,when N_(slot)=14 and when there are 5 available slot symbols fortransmission in the first ┌N_(slot)/2┐=7 slot symbols, then N_(symb) ¹=5while when there are 7 available slot symbols for transmission in thesecond └N_(slot)/2┘=7 symbols, then N_(symb) ²=7.

When HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols require M_(sc) ^(HARQ) SCs fortransmission, a first ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ SCs are placed in the firstnumber N_(symb) ¹ of slot symbols, starting from a lowest SC index and afirst available symbol from the N_(symb) ¹ slot symbols, seriallycontinuing across available symbols from the N_(symb) ¹ slot symbols,and then continuing from a next higher SC index, in a time-first,frequency-second mapping. A last HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol ismapped on SC with index ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐−1 and on symbol┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb) ¹)−1 from the N_(symb) ¹ slot symbols. Asecond └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ SCs are placed in the second number N_(symb) ²of slot symbols, starting from a highest SC index and a first availablesymbol from the N_(symb) ² slot symbols, serially continuing acrossavailable symbols from the N_(symb) ² slot symbols, and then continuingfrom a next lower SC index, in a time-first, frequency-second mapping. Alast HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index M_(sc)^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ²┐−1 and on symbol └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ²)−1 from the N_(symb) ² slot symbols. The orderof the mapping to the two ends of a PUSCH transmission BW can also bereversed.

RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols can be mapped torespective M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI) SCs for transmission in a same manner asHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols. When a UE does not transmit HARQ-ACK,a mapping for RI/CRI coded modulation symbols is as for HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols. When the UE transmits HARQ-ACK, in a first option, afirst of the ┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐ SCs is a SC with index ┌┌M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐−1 in symbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb) ¹)from the N_(symb) ¹ slot symbols when ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb)¹)>0 or is a SC with index ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐ in symbol 0from the N_(symb) ¹ slot symbols. A first of the └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘SCs is a SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ²┐−1in symbol └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ²) from the N_(symb) ² slotsymbols when └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ²)>0 or is a SC with indexM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ²┐ in symbol 0 from theN_(symb) ² slot symbols.

In one embodiment, a mapping of SCs for transmission of RI/CRI (or CSIpart 1) coded modulation symbols is as for SCs for transmission ofHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols with the exception that a first SC ofthe ┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐ SCs is SC ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐ and afirst SC of the └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘ SCs is SC M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ²┐−1.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example mapping 1500 to PUSCH sub-carriers ofcoded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), anddata according to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodimentof the mapping 1500 shown in FIG. 15 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1510 in a first slotsymbol and in an eighth symbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UErequires M_(sc) ^(HARQ)=20 SCs to transmit HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols and M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs to transmit RI/CRI (or CSI part 1)coded modulation symbols. The UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols over ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐=10 SCs 1520 in N_(symb) ¹=6 availableslot symbols using a time-first mapping where a first HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbol is mapped on SC with index 0 and on symbol 0 and alast HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐−1=1 and on symbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐mod(N_(symb) ¹)−1=3.

The UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols over └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘=10 SCs 1522 in N_(symb) ²=6 available slot symbols using atime-first mapping where a first HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol ismapped on SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−1=23 and on symbol 0 and a lastHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index M_(sc)^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ²┐=22 and on symbol └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ²)−1=3. The UE transmits RI/CRI (or CSI part 1)coded modulation symbols over ┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐=4 SCs 1230 inN_(symb) ¹=6 available slot symbols using a time-first mapping where afirst RI/CRI coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index ┌┌M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐−1 and on symbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb)¹)=4.

The UE transmits RI/CSI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols over└M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘=4 SCs 1532 in N_(symb) ²=6 available slot symbolsusing a time-first mapping where a first RI/CRI coded modulation symbolis mapped on SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb)²┐−1=9 and on symbol └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ²)=4. In remainingSCs and available symbols, the UE transmits data 1540 or other UCI suchas CSI.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example mapping 1600 to PUSCH sub-carriers ofcoded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), anddata according to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodimentof the mapping 1600 shown in FIG. 16 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1610 in a first slotsymbol and in an eighth symbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UErequires M_(sc) ^(HARQ)=20 SCs to transmit HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols. A mapping to SCs is as described in FIG. 15 and is not repeatedfor brevity. The UE requires M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs to transmit RI/CRI(or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols. The UE transmits RI/CRI (orCSI part 1) coded modulation symbols in a same manner as HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols.

The UE transmits RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols over┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐=4 SCs 1630 in N_(symb) ¹=6 available slot symbolsusing a time-first mapping where a first RI/CRI coded modulation symbolis mapped on SC with index ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ¹┐=2 and onsymbol 0 and the UE transmits RI/CRI coded modulation symbols over└M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘=4 SCs 1632 in N_(symb) ²=6 available slot symbolsusing a time-first mapping where a first RI/CRI coded modulation symbolis mapped on SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb)²┐−1=21 and on symbol 0. In remaining SCs and available symbols, the UEtransmits data 1640 or other UCI such as CSI.

UCI coded modulation symbols in a PUSCH can also be simultaneouslymapped across all available N_(symb) ^(PUSCH) slot symbols. WhenHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols require M_(sc) ^(HARQ) SCs fortransmission, a first ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ SCs are placed starting from alowest SC index (index 0) and a first available slot symbol (index 0),serially continuing across available N_(symb) ^(PUSCH) slots symbols,and then continuing from the next higher SC index, in a time-first,frequency-second mapping. A last HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol ismapped on SC with index ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1 and onsymbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))−1.

A second └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ SCs are placed starting from the highest SCindex (index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−1) and a first available slot symbol (index0), serially continuing across available N_(symb) ^(PUSCH) slot symbols,and then continuing from the next lower SC index, in a time-first,frequency-second mapping. A last HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol ismapped on SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb)^(PUSCH)┐−1 and on symbol └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSH))−1.The order of the mapping to the two ends of a PUSCH transmission BW canalso be reversed and a mapping of HARQ-ACK modulation symbols can beinterleaved across SCs at the two ends of the PUSCH transmission BW (inorder to obtained a frequency-first mapping according to the previouscondition that this disclosure considers (a) mapping of different UCItypes can be consecutive, first in frequency and then in time).

RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols can be mapped torespective M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI) SCs in a same manner as HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols. When a UE does not transmit HARQ-ACK, a mapping toSCs for RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols is as forHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols. When the UE transmits HARQ-ACK, in afirst option, a first of the ┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐ SCs is a SC with index┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1 in symbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)) when ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))>0or is a SC with index ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐ in symbol0. A first of the └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘ SCs is a SC with index M_(sc)^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1 in symbol └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)) when └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb)^(PUSCH))>0 or is a SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐ in symbol 0. In a second option, a mappingof the M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI) SCs is as for the SCs for transmission ofHARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols with the exception that a first SC ofthe ┌M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┐ SCs is SC ┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb)^(PUSCH)┐ and a first SC of the └M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘ SCs is SC M_(sc)^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1, where mod is themodulo function defined as xmod(y)=x−y└x/y┘.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example mapping 1700 on PUSCH sub-carriers ofcoded modulation symbols conveying HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (CSI part 1), anddata according to the first option for mapping UCI coded modulationsymbols across all available PUSCH slot symbols according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. An embodiment of the mapping 1700 shown inFIG. 17 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1710 in a first slotsymbol and in an eighth symbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UErequires M_(sc) ^(HARQ)=20 SCs to transmit HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols and M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)=8 SCs to transmit RI/CRI (or CSI part 1)coded modulation symbols. The UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbols over ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐=10 SCs 1720 in the N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)available slot symbols using a time-first mapping where a first HARQ-ACKcoded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index 0 and on symbol 0 anda last HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with index┌┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1=0 and on symbol ┌M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┐ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))−1=9.

The UE transmits HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbols over └M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┘=10 SCs 1722 in the N_(symb) ^(PUSCH) available slot symbolsusing a time-first mapping where a first HARQ-ACK coded modulationsymbol is mapped on SC with index M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−1=23 and on symbol 0and a last HARQ-ACK coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC with indexM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐=23 and on symbol└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))−1=9. The UE transmits RI/CRI(or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols over MRI/CRI/2=4 SCs 1730 usinga time-first mapping where a first RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) codedmodulation symbol is mapped on SC with index ┌┌M_(sc)^(HARQ)/2┐/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐−1=0 and on symbol ┌M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┐mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))=10.

The UE transmits RI/CSI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbols over└M_(sc) ^(RI/CRI)/2┘=4 SCs 1732 using a time-first mapping where a firstRI/CRI (or CSI part 1) coded modulation symbol is mapped on SC withindex M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)−┌└M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘/N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)┐=23 and onsymbol └M_(sc) ^(HARQ)/2┘ mod(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH))=10. In remaining SCsand available symbols, the UE transmits data 1740 or other UCI such asCSI. FIG. 17 is an equivalent of FIG. 15 with the UCI transmitted acrossall available PUSCH symbols at the two ends of a PUSCH transmission BW.A similar structure can apply as an equivalent of FIG. 16 and arespective description is omitted for brevity.

An advantage of mapping UCI as in FIG. 16 or FIG. 17 is that an impactof UCI multiplexing on data code-blocks is uniformly distributed and,when possible or when needed, power boosting can apply to UCItransmissions as the UCI transmissions are distributed over allavailable PUSCH symbols. In case of QAM modulation, a power scalingfactor for UCI transmissions can be signaled through a respective fieldin a DCI format scheduling the PUSCH transmission.

For CSI (or CSI part 2) multiplexing in a PUSCH transmission, a mainissue is to avoid an error case resulting from a gNB incorrectlydetecting a RI that is associated with the CSI (or CSI part 2). A UE cantransmit a RI in a same slot as a CSI (or CSI part 2) or in a previousslot. When the UE transmits a smaller CSI (or CSI part 2) payload thanthe gNB expects, the gNB detects data CBs over a smaller number of SCsthan the UE uses to transmit the data CBs. A consequence is that the gNBassumes an incorrect rate matching for the CBs and this leads to HARQbuffer corruption at the gNB. When the UE transmits a larger CSI (or CSIpart 2) payload than the gNB expects, the gNB detects data CBs over alarger number of SCs than the LE uses to transmit the data CBs. Aconsequence is that the gNB either assumes an incorrect starting SC forthe transmission of data CBs, leading to full HARQ buffer corruption, orincludes in reception of data CBs SCs that the UE uses to transmit CSI(or CSI part 2) leading to partial HARQ buffer corruption. When an RIerror occurs, the gNB also incorrectly receives an associated CSI (orCSI part 2) unless the gNB decodes the CSI (or CSI part 2) according tomultiple hypotheses for the CSI (or CSI part 2) payload.

In one embodiment, to avoid error cases for multiplexing CSI (or CSIpart 2) and data in a PUSCH that are caused by incorrect RI detection ata gNB, a reference CSI (or CSI part 2) payload is defined or configuredby the gNB to a UE and a total number of coded modulation symbols forCSI multiplexing is determined relative to the reference CSI (CSIpart 1) payload. For example, a reference CSI (CSI part 1) payload,O_(CSI,ref), can be defined relative to rank 1 CSI reporting, orrelative to rank 2 CSI reporting, or can be configured to the LE fromthe gNB by higher layer signaling. Then, RI/CRI and the reference CSIpayload, such as for rank 1 CSI, can be jointly encoded. It is alsopossible to define or configure a reference MCS instead of a referenceCSI payload.

In determining a number of coded modulation symbols for CSI multiplexingin a PUSCH, for example as in Equation 2, the UE applies the referenceCSI payload O_(CSI,ref). The gNB can indicate, jointly or separately inan associated UL DCI format, a first β_(offset) ^(CSI) value,β_(offset,1) ^(CSI), for CSI payload of O_(CSI,ref) and a secondβ_(offset) ^(CSI) value, β_(offset,2) ^(CSI), for CSI payload ofO_(CSI), such as for rank 2 CQI and PMI. For example, β_(offset,2)^(CSI) can approximate β_(offset,1) ^(CSI)·O_(CSI)/O_(CSI,ref). Theindicated β_(offset) ^(CSI) and β_(offset,2) ^(CSI) values can target arespective CSI BLER as set by the gNB. A UE can separately encode aO_(CSI,ref) payload and a O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref) payload (when not zero).

When only β_(offset) ^(CSI) is configured by a gNB, the indicatedβ_(offset) ^(CSI) value is likely to provide a number of CSI codedmodulation symbols that are either smaller or larger than necessary toachieve the target BLER for the actual CSI payload O_(CSI). In theformer case, depending on the relative difference between the actual CSIpayload transmitted from the UE and the CSI payload determined by thegNB, the actual CSI BLER may be larger than the target CSI BLER andthere may be more resources available for data transmission. In thelatter case, the actual CSI BLER may be smaller than the target CSI BLERand there may be fewer resources available for data transmission.

For example, when the β_(offset) ^(CSI) is set considering a CSI payloadof O_(CSI)>O_(CSI,ref) CSI bits such as for rank 2 CQI and for PMI, andthe UE reports CQI with payload O_(CSI,ref) such as for rank 1 CQI (andRI/CRI), a resulting number of coded modulation symbols can be largerthan necessary (code rate lower than necessary) to achieve a targetBLER. For example, when the β_(offset) ^(CSI) is set considering a CSIpayload of O_(CSI,ref) bits such as for rank 1 CQI and the UE reportsCSI with total payload O_(CSI)>O_(CSI,ref) such as for rank 2 CQI andfor PMI, by separately encoding O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref) CSI bits in additionto the O_(CSI,ref) CSI bits, a resulting number of coded modulationsymbols can be smaller than necessary (code rate larger than necessary)to achieve a target BLER.

Similar arguments apply when both β_(offset) ^(CSI) and β_(offset,2)^(CSI) values are configured by the gNB, either by higher layers or by aDCI format scheduling an associated PUSCH transmission, where β_(offset)^(CSI) can be set for the O_(CSI,ref) payload and β_(offset,2) ^(CSI)can be set relative to the O_(CSI,ref) payload, or relative to a(predetermined) O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref) payload, or relative to anotherpredetermined payload. Then, a resulting number of coded modulationsymbols can be the expected one for the O_(CSI,ref) payload (CSI part1), for example for rank 1 CQI and RI/CRI, and can be larger or smallerthan necessary for the O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref) payload (CSI part 2), forexample for rank 2 CQI and for PMI (the O_(CSI,ref) payload isseparately encoded than the O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref)). For example, when theUE reports rank 1 CQI and RI/CRI (CSI part 1), PUSCH resources reservedfor multiplexing an O_(CSI)−O_(CSI,ref) payload (CSI part 2) do notconvey any information. In either case, there is no HARQ buffercorruption and there are no material consequences for CSI reception orfor data reception.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example determination 1800 for a number of CSIcoded modulation symbols based on a reference CSI payload (CSI part 1)according to embodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of thedetermination 1800 shown in FIG. 18 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A UE is configured by a gNB a reference CSI payload (CSI part 1),O_(CSI,ref), for the UE to use in a formula for determining a number ofCSI coded modulation symbols to map to SCs of a PUSCH transmission BW1810. It is also possible that the configuration is avoided whenO_(CSI,ref) is predefined in a system operation, for example for the CSIpart to correspond to rank-1 transmission per cell. The UE detects an ULDCI format that includes a field indicating a β_(offset) ^(CSI) value1820. The UE generates a CSI report with a payload of O_(CSI)information bits to transmit in the PUSCH 1830. The UE determines anumber of coded modulation symbols for the CSI based on the indicatedβ_(offset) ^(CSI) value and on the CSI payload O_(CSI,ref).

In one embodiment, to avoid error cases for multiplexing CSI and data ina PUSCH that are caused by incorrect RI detection at a gNB, a referenceCSI payload, O_(CSI,ref), is again defined in a system operation or isconfigured by the gNB to a UE. The UE rate matches the data transmissionfor a number of SCs corresponding to transmission of O_(CSI,ref) in arespective slot. When an actual CSI payload O_(CSI) is larger thanO_(CSI,ref), that is when there is a CSI part 2 in addition to CSI part1, the UE determines a number of CSI coded modulated symbols accordingto transmission of O_(CSI) information bits and punctures transmissionof data coded modulation symbols in SCs other than SCs corresponding totransmission of O_(CSI,ref) information bits. For example, forO_(CSI,ref)=50 bits and O_(CSI)=100 bits, when M_(sc) ^(CSI,ref) SCs areused for transmission of O_(CSI,ref) information bits and M_(sc)^(CSI)>M_(sc) ^(CSI,ref) SCs are used for transmission of O_(CSI)information bits, a UE rate matches a transmission of data codedmodulation symbols for the M_(sc) ^(CSI,ref) SCs and punctures atransmission of data coded modulation symbols for the M_(sc)^(CSI)−M_(sc) ^(CSI,ref) SCs. When O_(CSI)≤O_(CSI,ref), the UE maps theCSI on M_(sc) ^(CSI)≤M_(sc) ^(CSI,ref) SCs and does not use remainingM_(sc) ^(CSI,ref)−M_(sc) ^(CSI) SCs to transmit data coded modulationsymbols.

In one embodiment, to reduce an impact from error cases for multiplexingCSI and data in a PUSCH that are caused by incorrect RI detection, a gNBimplementation can set a target BLER for RI detection, or equivalentlyCSI part 1 detection, to be sufficiently low for such error cases to nothave a material impact on the overall system operation. For example,when possible, a RI/CRI target BLER can be set to be in the order of0.01% or less. To avoid an erroneous understanding of a CSI (CSI part 2)payload at a gNB affecting a detection of HARQ-ACK, or RI/CRI, or data,a UE can map SCs for transmission of CSI (CSI part 2) coded modulationsymbols after the UE maps SCs for transmission of HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI(CSI part 1), or data coded modulation symbols.

In this manner, when a UE maps CSI on more SCs than expected by a gNB, astarting position of data coded modulation symbols is not affected.Although instead of data coded modulation symbols, the gNB receives CSIcoded modulation symbols in some SCs when the actual CSI payload islarger than the CSI payload assumed by the gNB, full buffer corruptionis avoided as the UE first maps to SCs the data coded modulation symbolsand therefore the location of those SCs is independent of the SCs the UEmaps the CSI coded modulation symbols. When a UE maps CSI on fewer SCsthan expected by a gNB, a starting position of data information is notaffected and the only impact is some unutilized SCs in a PUSCH.

When there is no ambiguity for a number of SCs needed for HARQ-ACK,RI/CRI (or CSI part 1), or data transmission, any mapping order forthese information types can apply. Otherwise, when there is ambiguityfor any of these information types, such as for example for HARQ-ACK,the mapping of that information type can be last, even after CSI, asHARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) can have a higher priority than CSI(or CSI part 2) and can overwrite SCs used for mapping CSI (or CSI part2).

After sub-carrier mapping of HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (or CSI part 1), and data(and DMRS), sub-carrier mapping of CSI (or CSI part 2) can be determinedas SCs used for HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (or CSI part 1) transmission and arespective description is not repeated for brevity. For example, CSImultiplexing is same as HARQ-ACK multiplexing when there is no HARQ-ACKor RI/CRI. For example, CSI (or CSI part 2) multiplexing is same asRI/CRI (or CSI part 1) multiplexing when there is HARQ-ACK but there isno RI/CRI in CSI part 1. For example, CSI multiplexing is same as RI/CRI(or CSI part 1) multiplexing after HARQ-ACK when there is HARQ-ACK andRI/CRI (or CSI part 1).

FIG. 19 illustrates an example first approach 1900 for mapping CSI tosub-carriers of a PUSCH transmission according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. An embodiment of the first approach 1900 shown inFIG. 19 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 1910 in a first slotsymbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. After mapping HARQ-ACK 1920 andRI/CRI (or CSI part 1) 1930 to SCs, the UE maps data to SCs 1940.Finally, the UE maps CSI (or CSI part 2) to SCs 1950. The UE maps CSI(or CSI part 2) coded modulation symbols to SCs after the UE mapsHARQ-ACK, RI/CRI (or CSI part 1), and data coded modulation symbols toSCs. When the gNB assumes a smaller CSI (CSI part 2) payload than anactual CSI (CSI part 2) payload that the UE transmits, the gNB assumesthat some SCs, such as SCs 1952, are used for data transmission insteadof CSI (CSI part 2) transmission. However, as data is mapped to SCsprior to CSI (CSI part 2), the only consequence is that the gNB mayreceive CSI (CSI part 2) symbols as data symbols in SCs 1952 while inremaining SCs used for data multiplexing, the gNB receives data symbolscorrectly. Similar mapping of CSI (CSI part 2) coded modulation symbolsto SCs can apply when a mapping to SCs for HARQ-ACK and RI/CRI (or CSIpart 1) is as in FIG. 13.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example second approach 2000 for mapping CSI tosub-carriers of a PUSCH transmission according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. An embodiment of the second approach 2000 shown inFIG. 20 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH to a gNB in a slot over fourteen symbols and overM_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. The UE transmits a DMRS 2010 in a first slotsymbol over the M_(sc) ^(PUSCH)=24 SCs. After mapping HARQ-ACK 2020 andRI/CRI (or CSI part 1) 2030 to SCs, for example as in FIG. 15, the UEmaps data to SCs 2040. Finally, the UE maps CSI (CSI part 2) to SCs2050. Similar comments as for FIG. 19 apply for a case when the gNB andthe UE consider a different CSI (CSI part 2) payload.

When UCI multiplexing is across all available PUSCH symbols, for exampleas in FIG. 17, a mapping of CSI (CSI part 2) coded modulation symbols toPUSCH SCs is a direct extension of the one for HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (CSIpart 1) coded modulation symbols (a UE first maps HARQ-ACK, RI/CRI, ordata coded modulation symbols to SCs) and a corresponding description isomitted for brevity.

UCI is typically associated with a lower target BLER than datainformation. For a given receiver and coherent demodulation, a BLERdepends on a channel estimation accuracy that in turn depends on anassociated DMRS SINR and on a code rate and SINR for the UCI codedmodulation symbols. The code rate can be reduced by allocating more UCIcoded modulation symbols for a given UCI payload. The DMRS SINR isdetermined by the DMRS transmission power. A first approach to increasea DMRS SINR is for a UE to increase a DMRS transmission power relativeto than a UCI or data transmission power. For example, an UL DCI formatcan include a DMRS power offset field for the UE to determine a poweroffset for a DMRS transmission power relative to a UCI or datainformation transmission power.

A limitation of the first approach is that it is primarily beneficialfor UEs with low SINR that can also be power limited. Another limitationis that a DMRS SINR increase due to a DMRS transmission power increasecan be cancelled by respective DMRS transmission power increases fromUEs in interfering synchronous cells as DMRS can be located on a sameslot symbol. A second approach to increase a DMRS SINR is to includeadditional DMRS symbols and this can be indicated by an ‘additionalDMRS’ field in a DCI format scheduling the PUSCH transmission.

As a main purpose of the additional DMRS is to improve a UCI BLER, theadditional DMRS can be limited on SCs where UCI is transmitted, or onRBs that include SCs where UCI is transmitted, and need not extent overthe entire PUSCH transmission BW. The field in the DCI format can alsoindicate whether or not the additional DMRS extents over the PUSCHtransmission BW or only over SCs, or RBs that include SCs, used formapping of UCI coded modulation symbols.

It is also possible for a UE to transmit an additional DMRS when UCI ismultiplexed in a PUSCH through implicit signaling such as, for example,when a data MCS is below a predetermined MCS or when a field in an ULDCI format indicates a predetermined value (or values) for a cyclicshift of a default DMRS transmission (assuming the default DMRS is basedon a ZC sequence). A UE can transmit an additional DMRS in one or morepredetermined slot symbols, such as a middle or a last slot symbol, thatare part of the PUSCH transmission. When an OFDM waveform is used forPUSCH transmission, the additional DMRS can be limited in BW and can bemultiplexed with data in a same slot symbol. When a DFT-S-OFDM waveformis used for PUSCH transmission, the additional DMRS can be transmittedover the entire PUSCH BW in a slot symbol without multiplexing with datain the slot symbol in order to maintain a single-carrier property forthe DFT-S-OFDM waveform.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example existence of an additional DMRS 2100 whenUCI is multiplexed in a PUSCH transmission according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure. An embodiment of the existence of an additionalDMRS 2100 shown in FIG. 21 is for illustration only. Other embodimentsmay be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

A UE transmits a PUSCH in a slot and over a number of SCs (or RBs). AUCI multiplexing structure for mapping UCI coded modulation symbols toSCs is not material and the one in FIG. 20 is used for reference. The UEtransmits a default DMRS 2110 in a first slot symbol over all PUSCH SCs(the default DMRS transmission can also be in some of the PUSCH SCswhile still spanning the PUSCH transmission BW). The UE determines a setof SCs for UCI multiplexing in the PUSCH and transmits an additionalDMRS, when so indicated by an associated UL DCI format or when the UEimplicitly determines based on a predefined rule, in a slot symbol 2120.

The additional DMRS is transmitted at least in SCs where UCI is mapped(but in a different symbol). The additional DMRS can also be transmittedover a predetermined number of SCs, such as SCs over an integer numberof RBs, which include the UCI SCs. This can be necessary when DMRS isconstructed by a ZC sequence that needs to have a length from apredetermined number of lengths such as 12, 24, and so on. After the UEdetermines whether or not to transmit an additional DMRS, the UE canproceed with mapping to SCs HARQ-ACK (when any) 2130, RI/CRI (when any)2140, data 2150, and CSI 2160 coded information symbols.

In order to avoid a link for a determination of a number of UCI codedmodulation symbol on parameters of a PUSCH conveying an initialtransmission of a data TB, such as a transmission BW or a transmissionpower, a number of UCI coded modulation symbols can be determined basedon a current PUSCH transmission and a variability is a target BLER amongHARQ retransmissions (including an initial transmission) of a data TBcan be addressed through a field in an UL DCI format conveying aβ_(offset) ^(PUSCH) value.

A UE can determines a number of coded modulation symbols per layerQ′_(ACK) for HARQ-ACK as in Equation 4

$\begin{matrix}{Q_{ACK}^{\prime} = \left\lceil \frac{O_{ACK} \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{\sum\limits_{r = 0}^{C - 1}K_{r}} \right\rceil} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 4} \right)\end{matrix}$

where O_(ACK) is the number of HARQ-ACK bits, and M_(sc) ^(PUSCH) is ascheduled PUSCH transmission BW, in number of SCs, in the slot for thedata TB(s), and N_(symb) ^(PUSCH) is a number of slot symbols availablefor transmission for the data TB(s), and M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), C, and K_(r)are obtained from the UL DCI format conveyed in a DL control channel.When there is no DL control channel for the data TB, M_(sc) ^(PUSCH), C,and K_(r) are determined from the most recent SPS assignment when thePUSCH for the data TB is SPS or from the random access response grantfor the data TB when the PUSCH is initiated by the random accessresponse grant. Further, C is a number of CBs for data TB and K_(r) is asize of CB r for data TB.

A UE determines a number of coded modulation symbols per layerQ′_(RI/CRI), for a number of RI/CRI O_(RI/CRI) (or CSI part 1)information bits as in Equation 5 (Q_(ACK)=0 when the UE does nottransmit HARQ-ACK)

$\begin{matrix}{Q_{{RI}/{CRI}}^{\prime} = {\min \left( {\left\lceil \frac{O_{{RI}/{CRI}} \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{\sum\limits_{r = 0}^{C - 1}K_{r}} \right\rceil,{{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH}} - Q_{ACK}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 5} \right)\end{matrix}$

QPSK modulation (Q_(m)=2) is assumed for HARQ-ACK and RI/CSI (or CSIpart 1). When a higher modulation order Q_(m)>2 is enabled, such as forQAM modulation, a number of coded information symbols can be scaledaccordingly.

A UE determines a number of coded modulation symbols per layer Q′_(CSI)for a number of CSI O_(CSI) information bits as in Equation 6

$\begin{matrix}{Q^{\prime} = {\min \left( {\left\lceil \frac{\left( {O + L} \right) \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{\sum\limits_{r = 0}^{C - 1}K_{r}} \right\rceil,{{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH}} - \frac{Q_{RI}}{Q_{m}} - \frac{Q_{ACK}}{Q_{m}}}} \right)}} & {\left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 6} \right)\;}\end{matrix}$

where L is the number of CRC bits and Q_(CQI)=Q_(m)·Q′. When the UE doesnot transmit HARQ-ACK, Q_(ACK)=0. When the UE does not transmit RI/CRI,or when the UE jointly codes RI/CRI with CSI (CSI part 1), Q_(RI/CRI)=0.

A number of bits available for a data TB transmission over N_(L) layersis G=N_(L)·(N_(symb) ^(PUSCH)M_(sc)^(PUSCH)·Q_(m)−Q_(CQI)−Q_(RI/CRI)−Q_(ACK)).

In order to improve a dimensioning for HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (or CSIpart 1) coded modulation symbols in a PUSCH transmission that includesCSI (or CSI part 2) and does not include data, the present disclosureconsiders that an associated UL DCI format provides, either explicitlyor implicitly, an MCS for the CSI transmission. An MCS set for CSI onlytransmission can be a subset of an MCS set for data transmission, forexample, by not including QAM64 or QAM256 modulation or by not includingcertain code rate (spectral efficiency) values. When higher ordermodulations, such as 64QAM or 256QAM, are not supported for UCI then,when UCI is multiplexed with data in a PUSCH, the UCI is transmittedwith a same modulation as the data unless a modulation order for thedata is higher than a maximum supportable modulation order for the UCIand then the UCI is transmitted with a modulation corresponding to thehighest supportable order for the UCI.

An explicit indication in an UL DCI format to schedule a PUSCHtransmission that includes only UCI (and does not include data) can bethrough an “UCI-only” field that includes one bit indicating whetherdata or not a UE may transmit data in a PUSCH when the UE is triggered aCSI report by the UL DCI format through an A-CSI request field. Anexplicit indication can alternatively be provided by including a“UCI-only” component in some of the states that the values of the A-CSIrequest field map to.

An implicit indication can be provided by reserving a value of anotherfield in an UL DCI format to indicate, in conjunction with a positiveindication of the A-CSI request field, that only UCI is to betransmitted in an associated PUSCH. For example, when a DMRS transmittedin a PUSCH is based on a transmission of a ZC sequence and a field in anUL DCI format is used to indicate a cyclic shift value for the ZCsequence, a value of the field can be reserved to also indicate thatonly UCI is to be transmitted in a scheduled PUSCH.

When a UE is indicated that by an UL DCI format that an associated PUSCHtransmission is to include only UCI (at least A-CSI), a MCS field in theUL DCI format can correspond to an MCS for the A-CSI transmission. Basedon the indicated MCS value, the UE can determine a number of CSI bitsO_(CSI) for the UE to use in determining a number of HARQ-ACK codedmodulation symbols as in Equation 7, a number of RI/CRI (or CSI part 1)coded modulation symbols as in Equation 8 and a number of CSI (or CSIpart 2) coded modulation symbols as in Equation 9

$\begin{matrix}{Q_{ACK}^{\prime} = {\min\left( {\left\lceil \frac{O_{ACK} \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{O_{CSI}} \right\rceil,{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 7} \right) \\{Q_{{RI}/{CRI}}^{\prime} = {\min\left( {\left\lceil \frac{O_{{RI}/{CRI}} \cdot M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot \beta_{offset}^{PUSCH}}{O_{CSI}} \right\rceil,{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot Q_{ACK}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 8} \right) \\{Q_{CSI} = {\max \left( {0,{{M_{sc}^{PUSCH} \cdot N_{symb}^{PUSCH} \cdot Q_{m}} - Q_{ACK} - Q_{{RI}/{CRI}}}} \right)}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 9} \right)\end{matrix}$

For HARQ-ACK, Q_(ACK)=Q_(m)·Q′_(ACK) and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset)^(HARQ-ACK)/β_(offset) ^(CSI). For RI/CRI, Q_(RI/CRI)=Q_(m)·Q′_(RI/CRI)and β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)=β_(offset) ^(RI/CRI)/β_(offset) ^(CSI).

As a UE determines a CSI (CSI part 2) payload according to a RI/CSIvalue the UE transmits to a gNB either prior to or simultaneously withthe CSI (CSI part 2) transmission, there can be an ambiguity between thegNB and the UE when the gNB fails to correctly detect the RI value. Forexample, a CSI (CSI part 2) payload is typically larger when anassociated rank is larger. A gNB can attempt to detect a CSI (CSI part2) codeword according to more than one hypothesis for an associatedpayload. For example, when the gNB fails to detect a CSI (CSI part 2)codeword according to a payload determined from a last detected valuefor RI, the gNB can decode again the CSI (CSI part 2) codeword assuminga different RI value corresponding to a different CSI (CSI part 2)payload. However, when RI or CSI corresponds to multiple cells, or tomultiple CSI processes, or to multiple CSI sets, a number ofcorresponding hypotheses increases due to the increased combinations fora possible CSI (CSI part 2) payload.

When a gNB incorrectly assumes a CSI (CSI part 2) payload, the gNB alsoincorrectly assumes a number of SCs in a PUSCH that a UE uses for CSI(CSI part 2) transmission and consequently a number of SCs that the UEuses for data transmission. Then, the gNB can include CSI (CSI part 2)coded modulation symbols as data coded modulation symbols leading tosoft buffer corruption for the data especially when a starting positionof data coded modulation symbols varies depending on a number of CSI(CSI part 2) coded modulation symbols. Therefore, it is beneficial toprovide means for a gNB to determine whether or not the gNB correctlydetects an RI value (or correctly detects CSI part 1). Such means aretypically associated with an inclusion of a cyclic redundancy check(CRC) in an information codeword prior to encoding.

While a CRC check after decoding is an effective way to confirm anincorrect or correct detection of an associated information codeword, anassociated encoding method such as tail biting convolutional code (TBCC)or polar code is effective only when an payload for the informationcodeword is sufficiently large, such as for example more than ten bits.However, even when a UE reports RI (or CSI part 1) for multiple cells, atotal RI (or CSI part 1) payload is often ten bits or less and thislimits the applicability of encoding methods that can utilize CRCprotection to confirm a correct or incorrect decoding outcome for aninformation codeword.

A UE can also report HARQ-ACK information for multiple CBs of a TB, orfor multiple DL cells where the UE is configured to receive PDSCHtransmissions, or for multiple slots where the UE is configured toreceive PDSCH transmissions. As a consequence, a HARQ-ACK informationcodeword can include several tens or even several hundreds of bits forrespective receptions of CBs or TBs across cells or across slots. Anincorrect detection of a HARQ-ACK information codeword by a gNB mayrequire re-scheduling and retransmission of all data CBs. Even when alow target BLER is set for an HARQ-ACK information codeword, due toerrors in link adaptation, or due to channel variations such asshort-term fading, or due to transmission power control errors, it canoften happen in practice that an actual BLER for a HARQ-ACK codeword ismaterially larger than a target BLER.

Therefore, instead of a gNB retransmitting all PDCCHs and PDSCHs toreschedule retransmissions of data CBs to a UE when the gNB incorrectlydetects an HARQ-ACK information codeword, it is beneficial for the gNBto trigger a retransmission of HARQ-ACK information codeword from the UEas this can avoid a DL spectral efficiency and throughput loss and anincrease in an average communication latency that are associated withsuch rescheduling.

When a UE multiplexes UCI in a PUSCH transmission, a target BLER for theUCI codeword at a gNB can be achieved by the gNB allocating a sufficientnumber of SCs in the PUSCH for UCI multiplexing. Although this istypically a functional approach, it can occasionally require a largenumber of SCs for UCI transmission, for example when a UCI payload islarge, and it is not always possible to increase a BW allocation for aPUSCH transmission as this can result to power limitation for the UE.Therefore, it can be beneficial to contain a number of SCs allocated toUCI multiplexing in a PUSCH transmission in order to avoid a high coderate for transmission of data information using OFDM because arespective data BLER can materially increase, for example when the coderate is above 0.6 particularly for a QAM-based data modulation.

As a UCI code rate is typically sufficiently low even when an allocatednumber of SCs is smaller than a nominal one for achieving a target BLER,the target UCI BLER can still be achieved by increasing a UCItransmission power. Then, to maintain a same total transmission powerper PUSCH symbol, a transmission power for data information decreases.However, as more SCs are available for multiplexing data information inthe PUSCH transmission, a sufficiently low code rate can be maintainedfor the data information leading to improved data BLER despite the lowertransmission power for data coded modulation symbols.

A gNB can schedule a PUSCH transmission from a UE to occur over multipleslots. The PUSCH transmission can convey a same data TB in all multipleslots or can convey a different data TB is each of the multiple slots.When the UE multiplexes UCI in the PUSCH transmission, the multiplexingcan occur either only in one slot, such as a first slot, for examplewhen each slot conveys a different data TB, or across all multiple slotsfor example when all multiple slots convey a same data TB. When an ULDCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission in multiple slots indicates asame MCS for data transmission in each of the multiple slots and thePUSCH in each of the multiple slots conveys a different data TB and usesa same transmission power in each of the multiple slots, a receptionreliability for a data TB depends on whether or not UCI is multiplexedin the PUSCH. It is therefore beneficial to have a different adjustmentfor parameters of a multi-slot PUSCH transmission in slots with UCImultiplexing than in slots without UCI multiplexing.

In some embodiments, there is a need to support encoding of UCI payloadsthat are smaller than or equal to a predetermined value using anencoding method that is applicable to UCI payloads above thepredetermined value.

In some embodiments, there is another need to enable a gNB to schedule aretransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword from a UE.

In some embodiments, there is another need to enable transmission ofHARQ-ACK information per code block group.

In some embodiments, there is a need to apply a different adjustment forparameters of a PUSCH transmission from a UE in slots with UCI or SRSmultiplexing than in slots without UCI or SRS multiplexing.

In the following, for brevity, data information is assumed to betransmitted using one data TB that can include one or more data CBs.Associated description of embodiments can be directly extended in casemore than one data TBs are supported. Further, a DCI format scheduling aPUSCH transmission is referred to as UL DCI format while a DCI formatscheduling a PDSCH transmission is referred to as DL DCI format.

In some embodiments, mapping a small number of information bits to acodeword having a larger number of information bits is considered inorder to enable computation of a CRC that is appended to the codewordand to enable a determination at a receiver of a correct or incorrectdetection of the codeword.

A number of original information bits, such as less than twelveinformation bits for HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (CSI part 1), are mapped to acodeword having a predetermined larger number of information bits, suchas twelve information bits. A CRC for the codeword is subsequentlyobtained, the CRC is appended to the codeword, and the output is thenencoded using for example a TBCC or a polar code. Using CRC protectionfor a HARQ-ACK or RI/CRI (CSI part 1) codeword also enables operationwith higher BLERs for the codeword and scheduling of retransmissions forthe codeword as is described in the next embodiment of this disclosure.

A mapping of original information bits to a codeword is not material butan exemplary mapping can be as follows. For I_(o) original informationbits and I_(CW)>I_(o) codeword information bits, the first I_(o)codeword information bits can be the I_(o) original information bits andremaining I_(CW)>I_(o) codeword information bits can have predeterminedvalues such as (binary) zero, or one, or a series of alternating zeroesand ones. It is also possible for the I_(o) original information bits tobe the last I_(o) codeword information bits, for example as decodingaccuracy for polar codes can improve when the first I_(CW)−I_(o)codeword information bits have known value, or to be distributed withinthe I_(CW) codeword information bits. A CRC of length L, such as forexample L=8, is computed for the codeword of length I_(CW) and appendedto the codeword to produce a total number of I_(CW)+L bits.

Even though a larger number of bits than the original I_(o) informationbits are transmitted, a resulting overhead increase is smaller than afactor of (I_(CW)+L)/I_(o) as an associated coding scheme, such as TBCCor polar coding, provides coding gains over repetition coding or blockcoding, that would otherwise be used for the original I_(o) informationbits, and as a target BLER for the I_(CW)+L bits, such as 1%, can bematerially smaller than a target BLER for the original I_(o) informationbits, such as 0.01%, because the former are protected by CRC and anincorrect detection can be identified.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example mapping and encoding process 2200 for anoriginal information payload though a use of a codeword with largerlength that the original information payload according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure. An embodiment of the mapping and encodingprocess 2200 shown in FIG. 22 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A UE generates the original I_(o) information bits, for example forHARQ-ACK information or RI/CRI (CSI part 1) 2210. The UE appendsI_(CW)−I_(o) bits with predetermined values to the original I_(o)information bits (it is also possible to have different combination forthe I_(o) and the I_(CW)−I_(o) bits) to form a codeword of I_(CW) bits2220. The UE computes a CRC of L bits 2230 for the codeword of I_(CW)bits and appends the L bits to the I_(CW) bits 2240. An encoder 2250,such as a TBCC or a polar encoder, subsequently encodes the I_(CW)+Lbits, a modulator 2260 modulates the encoded bits, a SC mapper 2270 mapsencoded modulation symbols to SCs and a transmitter 2280 transmits theresulting signal.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example decoding and de-mapping process 2300 foran original information payload though a use of a codeword with largerlength that the original information payload according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure. An embodiment of the decoding and de-mappingprocess 2300 shown in FIG. 23 is for illustration only. Otherembodiments may be used without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

A gNB receiver 2310 receives a signal, a demapper 2320 de-maps codedmodulation symbols, a demodulator 2330 demodulates the modulatedreceived symbols to provide coded information bits, and a decoder 2340decodes the coded information bits to provide I_(CW)+L estimatedcodeword bits and CRC bits. A CRC extraction unit 2350 extracts I_(CW)bits for a codeword and L bits for a CRC. The I_(CW) bits are providedto an information extraction unit (controller) 2370 that extracts I_(o)original information bits 2380. The receiver can determine whether ornot the codeword was correctly decoded by performing a CRC check 2390 orexamining the values for the I_(CW)−I_(o) bits 2395. When the CRC checkis positive or the values of the I_(CW)−I_(o) bits are the predeterminedones, the receiver can consider the I_(o) bits as valid; otherwise, thereceiver can consider the I_(o) bits as invalid.

When a value of I_(o) is sufficiently smaller than a value of I_(CW),such as I_(o)=2 and I_(CW)=12, it is possible to avoid includingadditional CRC bits in an encoded codeword as there are I_(CW)−I_(o)=10bits with predetermined values for a receiver to check in order todetermine whether or not the receiver correctly decoded the codeword ofI_(CW) bits. For example, when a decoding is actually incorrect and biterrors are random, a probability that the decoded I_(CW)−I_(o) bits aresame as the predetermined I_(CW)−I_(o) bits is ½^((I) ^(CW) ^(-I) ^(o) ⁾or, for I_(CW)−I_(o)=10, 1/1024. For a relatively small codeword BLER,such as 1%, an additional protection provided by checking the values ofthe decoded I_(CW)−I_(o) bits against predetermined values of theI_(CW)−I_(o) bits is sufficient as the relatively small codeword BLERfurther scales an incorrect receiver decision by a factor of ½^((I)^(CW) ^(-I) ^(o) ⁾. When a value of I_(o) is not sufficiently smallerthan a value of I_(CW), such as for example I_(o)=8 and I_(CW)=12, CRCbits can be added to an encoded codeword. A number of CRC bits can bepredetermined, such as L=8, or can depend on the value of I_(CW)−I_(o)such as for example, L=4 for 3<I_(CW)−I_(o)≤7 and L=8 for0<I_(CW)−I_(o)≤3 (and L=0 for 7<I_(CW)−I_(o)≤11).

In some embodiments, scheduling transmissions by a gNB for one or moreHARQ-ACK codewords from a UE is considered.

A first aspect for scheduling a transmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword isto define signaling for indicating such scheduling from a gNB to a UE.The signaling can be explicit or implicit. For example, explicitsignaling can be by including a “HARQ-ACK report request” field ineither or both DL DCI formats and UL DCI formats that a UE is configuredto decode. When a HARQ-ACK codeword size is predetermined, such as onecorresponding to HARQ-ACK for all HARQ processes, the “HARQ-ACK report”field can include 1 binary element where, for example, a UE transmits aHARQ-ACK codeword when the “HARQ-ACK report request” field value is “0”and the UE does not transmit a HARQ-ACK codeword when the “HARQ-ACKreport request” field value is “1.” Implicit signaling can be byreserving a state of another field in a DCI format to indicatescheduling of a HARQ-ACK codeword. For example, when DMRS transmissionsuse a ZC sequence, a field in a DCI format indicating a cyclic shiftvalue can have a reserved value to indicate scheduling of a HARQ-ACKcodeword and in that case the cyclic shift value can be a default onesuch as zero.

When increased granularity for a number of HARQ processes with HARQ-ACKreporting is needed, the “HARQ-ACK report request” field can have alarger number of bits, such as two bits, where a “00” state can indicateno transmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword, and a “01,” “10,” or “11” statecan respectively indicate transmission of a first set, a second set, ora third set of HARQ processes for the serving cell associated with theDCI format transmissions. The first, second, and third sets can beconfigured to the UE by a serving gNB through higher layer signaling.When a UE is configured to operate with DL carrier aggregation, the HARQprocesses can be the ones associated with a cell of a scheduled PDSCHtransmission from a DL DCI format that includes the “HARQ-ACK reportrequest” field.

A second aspect is for scheduling retransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword.A HARQ-ACK codeword scheduled for transmission from a UE is same as aHARQ-ACK codeword the UE transmitted at a previous slot. An earliestprevious slot can be defined in a system operation, such as for exampleto be the slot that is two slots prior to the slot of the HARQ-ACKcodeword scheduling, or can be configured from a gNB to a UE. Then, atransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword is a retransmission of a sameHARQ-ACK codeword with same contents as in an initial transmission ofthe HARQ-ACK codeword. This can enable a gNB to apply soft combining onthe encoded HARQ-ACK codeword symbols prior to decoding, similar to thegNB applying soft combining for HARQ retransmissions of encoded datainformation.

A DCI format can include a “HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” field toindicate a HARQ-ACK codeword, from a number of HARQ-ACK codewords, a UEtransmitted in previous slots. For example, a “HARQ-ACK codewordindicator” field can include two bits where a value of “00,” “01,” “10,”and “11” can indicate respectively a retransmission of a fourth last, orthird last, or second last, or last HARQ-ACK codeword transmitted by aUE. It is also possible for a “HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” field toindicate transmission of multiple HARQ-ACK codewords. For example, a“HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” field can include two bits where a valueof “00,” “01,” “10,” and “11” can indicate respectively a retransmissionof a third last, or a second last, or a last, or all of third last,second last, and last HARQ-ACK codewords transmitted by a UE. To enablesoft combining at a gNB with previous transmissions for a HARQ-ACKcodeword, when a UE simultaneously transmit multiple HARQ-ACK codewords,the UE separately encodes the multiple HARQ-ACK codewords.

A “HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” field can also act as a “HARQ-ACKreport” field by reserving one state to indicate no triggering of aHARQ-ACK codeword transmission. For example, a “HARQ-ACK codewordindicator” field can include two bits where a value of “01,” “10,” and“11” can indicate respectively a retransmission of a third last, orsecond last, or last HARQ-ACK codeword transmitted by a UE while a valueof “00” can indicate no retransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword. Morestates can be reserved when a HARQ-ACK codeword does not always includeHARQ-ACK information for all HARQ processes. When a “HARQ-ACK codewordindicator” field is included in an UL DCI format, the UE can multiplexthe HARQ-ACK codeword in an associated PUSCH transmission. The PUSCHtransmission can either include a data TB or not include a data TB and arespective indication can be explicit, through a corresponding field inan UL DCI format, or implicit by using predetermined values for one ormore predetermined fields in the UL DCI format.

For example, when a “HARQ-ACK report” field is included in an UL DCIformat, the “HARQ-ACK report” field can act as an explicit indicatorthat an associated PUSCH transmission does not include data information.Conversely, an explicit additional “HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” fieldin a DL DCI format or an UL DCI format can be omitted when the DL DCIformat or the UL DCI format does not schedule data transmission from theUE when a “HARQ-ACK report” field indicates a HARQ-ACK codewordtransmission. Then, one or more other existing fields in the DL DCIformat or the UL DCI format, such as for example a HARQ process numberfield, can be reinterpreted and function as a “HARQ-ACK codewordindicator” field.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example scheduling 2400 for a HARQ-ACK codewordretransmission according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anembodiment of the scheduling 2400 shown in FIG. 24 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A UE detects a DCI format with “HARQ-ACK codeword indicator” valueindicating retransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword transmitted in a secondlast slot 2410. Even though the UE transmits a HARQ-ACK codeword inslots 0 2420, 2 2422, 4 2424, and 6 926, the second last slot is slot 2,and not slot 4, because slot 6 is not at least two slots (specified in asystem operation of configured to the UE) before slot 7 2418 where theUE detects the DCI format. Upon the detection of the DCI format, the UEretransmits in a later slot the HARQ-ACK codeword that the UEtransmitted in the second last slot (slot 2) 2430.

A third aspect for scheduling a transmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword froma UE is to define respective transmission timing and resources. When atransmission of a HARQ-ACK codeword is triggered by an UL DCI format,with or without multiplexed data information, transmission timing andthe resources for the HARQ-ACK codeword are the ones that the UL DCIformat indicates for a PUSCH transmission. When a transmission of aHARQ-ACK codeword is triggered by a DL DCI format, the fields of the DLDCI format indicating transmission timing and associated resources canbe reinterpreted by the UE to act as corresponding fields of an UL DCIformat. When a transmission timing field or a resource allocation fieldin a DL DCI format is not identical as a respective field in an UL DCIformat, additional adjustments can be made by either reducing a numberof bits for the field or by increasing a number of bits for the fieldusing bits from other fields in the DL DCI format that are not neededfor a HARQ-ACK codeword transmission.

In some embodiments, signaling mechanisms to enable support for HARQ-ACKinformation corresponding to correct or incorrect detection of codeblock groups is considered according to this disclosure.

HARQ-ACK information can be dimensioned with finer granularity than perTB and can correspond to a group of data CBs in a data TB for arespective HARQ process.

In one example, a number of (data) CBs per (data) TB, N_(CB) ^(TB) canbe determined as N_(CB) ^(TB)=┌TBS/CBS_(max)┐ where TBS is the TB sizein bits and CBS_(max) is a predetermined maximum CB size in bits. Amaximum number of CBs per group of CBs (CB-group or CBG), N_(CB) ^(CBG)can be configured to a UE by a gNB. As a TB size can vary for PDSCHtransmissions in different slots or different cells, a number of CBGsper TB can also vary and consequently a number of HARQ-ACK informationbits per TB can also vary.

A number of HARQ-ACK information bits per TB can be determined asN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)=┌N_(CB) ^(TB)/N_(CB) ^(CBG)┐. For example, forconfiguration of N_(CB) ^(CBG)=4 CBs per CBG, a first TB includes N=8CBs and HARQ-ACK information corresponds to N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)=┌N_(CB)^(TB)/N_(CB) ^(CBG)┐=2 CBGs, while a second TB includes N_(CB) ^(TB)=2CBs and HARQ-ACK information is provided for a N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB)=┌N_(CB) ^(TB)/N_(CB) ^(CBG)┐=1 CBG (for the second TB, there arefewer than N_(CB) ^(CBG)=4 CBs per CBG as there are only 2 CBs in theTB) (therefore, the number of HARQ-ACK bits is reduced when the numberof CBs is less than the number of CBs per CBG). As different TBs can beassociated with different HARQ processes and can include a differentnumber of CBGs, each HARQ process for a respective TB can be associatedwith a different number of HARQ-ACK information bits that is equal to anumber of CBGs in the TB.

A UE can determine a HARQ-ACK codeword length either by explicitly, byrespective signaling from a gNB, or implicitly by other signaling fromthe gNB. For explicit signaling, the gNB can configure the UE with aHARQ-ACK codeword length that includes N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW) HARQ-ACKinformation bits. The configuration can be by higher layer signaling orthrough a “HARQ-ACK codeword length” field in a DCI format. For example,a “HARQ-ACK codeword length” field of 2 bits can indicate a HARQ-ACKcodeword length of 1, 2, 4, or 8. A configuration for a HARQ-ACKcodeword length is equivalent to a configuration for a number of CBGs.For a UE configured with DL CA, a HARQ-ACK codeword length can be scaledby a number of configured DL cells or can be separately configured perDL cell. A UE initializes a HARQ-ACK codeword with ‘NACK’ values, suchas binary zeros, and subsequently populates the HARQ-ACK codeword withactual HARQ-ACK values based on decoding outcomes for data CBs.Therefore, for a single cell, when N_(CB) ^(TB)<N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW)−N_(CB) ^(TB) bits have a ‘NACK’ value.

For implicit signaling, a UE determines a HARQ-ACK codeword length aftera detection of a DL DCI format. The DL DCI format can include a “CBGcounter” field that indicates a number of a CBG where a number of CBGsincreases sequentially first within a TB and then across TBs based on anascending order of a slot index or of a DL cell index associated with atransmission of a TB. As there can be multiple CBGs per TB and as a UEcan fail to detect a number of DL DCI formats scheduling transmissionsof TBs in slots or DL cells with consecutive indexes then, in order fora UE to be able to identify such event, the CBG counter field needs tohave a range that can unambiguously identify a predetermined number ofCBGs that a UE failed to receive in order for the UE to determine aproper arrangement of HARQ-ACK information bits in a HARQ-ACK codeword.

In another example, a gNB can configure to a UE a maximum number of CBGsper TB, or equivalently a maximum number N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) ofHARQ-ACK information bits per TB (N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max)=N_(HARQ-ACK)^(CW) in case of one slot). The configuration of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max)can be separate per cell. Then, the CBG counter field requires┌log₂(N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)·N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max))┐ bits to enable a UEto determine a proper arrangement of HARQ-ACK information bits in aHARQ-ACK codeword when the UE fails to detect up to N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)DCI formats scheduling transmissions of TBs in slots or DL cells withconsecutive indexes. The value of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) (number of CBGper TB) can be configured to a UE by higher layers or can be specifiedin a system operation. As a gNB is unlikely to require the maximumnumber N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) of HARQ-ACK information bits per TB forN_(DCI) ^(misdetect) TBs scheduled in slots or DL cells with consecutiveindexes, the CBG counter index can identify a statistical maximum ofCBGs, N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(serial TBs,max), in multiple TBs scheduled in slotsor DL cells with consecutive indexes and require ┌log₂(N_(HARQ-ACK)^(serial TBs,max))┐ bits. A gNB can configure to a UE the number of┌log₂(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(serial TBs,max))┐ bits to be included in DCIformats.

Regardless of an approach to determine a number of bits for the CBGcounter, this number of bits needs to be larger than a number of bits ina DL assignment index (DAI) field used to identify N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)DCI formats when HARQ-ACK information is provided per TB and not perCBG. For example, for N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)=4 and N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB,max)=8, a DAI field requires two bits while a CBG counter indexfield requires ┌log₂(N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)·N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max))┐=5bits. Even when a number of successive HARQ-ACK information bits thatcorrespond to CBGs that are not received by the UE and are identifiableby the UE is reduced from N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)·N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max)=32to N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(serial TBs,max)=16, a CBG counter index field requiresfour bits.

A number of additional NDI bits in a DL DCI format can be equal toN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) in order for the NDI bits to uniquely to identifyCBGs for retransmission. A number of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) NDI bits areincluded in a DL DCI format even when there are fewer than N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB,max) CBGs in a data TB, that is when N_(CB) ^(TB)<N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB,max), in order to maintain a predetermined number of NDI bits thata UE needs to know in order to detect a DL DCI format.

An inclusion of the additional N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) NDI bits can beomitted from a DL DCI format (and only the NDI for a data TB isincluded) when there is no ambiguity between the HARQ-ACK informationtransmitted by a UE and the HARQ-ACK information detected by a gNB. Thiscan occur when a HARQ-ACK codeword transmitted by the UE is protectedwith a CRC as in such case the gNB can identify a correct or incorrectreception of a HARQ-ACK codeword. When a gNB incorrectly receives aHARQ-ACK codeword, the gNB can indicate transmission of same CBGs in aPDSCH through a DL DCI format by (a) not toggling an NDI bit for a TB inthe DL DCI format, (b) indicating a same value for a redundancy version(RV) as in a previous DL DCI format scheduling a previous transmissionof the CBGs, and (c) indicating a same HARQ process number as in theprevious DL DCI format scheduling a previous transmission of the CBGs.

When the UE detects a DL DCI format with a same NDI value for a TB, asame RV value, and a same HARQ process number as in a previous DL DCIformat, the UE can interpret that the DL DCI format schedules same CBGsas the previous DL DCI format. When a gNB correctly receives a HARQ-ACKcodeword, the gNB can indicate transmission of new CBGs in a PDSCHthrough a DL DCI format by (a) not toggling an NDI bit for a TB in theDL DCI format, (b) indicating a next value for a RV as in a previous DLDCI format scheduling a previous transmission of the CBGs, and (c)indicating a same HARQ process number as in the previous DL DCI formatscheduling a previous transmission of the CBGs. When there are no CBGsrequiring retransmission, a gNB can schedule a new data TB for a HARQprocess number through a DL DCI format by (a) toggling an NDI bit for aTB in the DL DCI format, (b) indicating a first value for a RV in the DLDCI format, and (c) indicating the HARQ process number. The previousconditions on the RV value can also be skipped and be left to gNBimplementation.

UL DCI formats can also include additional N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) NDIbits for indicating CBGs that a UE needs to retransmit. A gNB canseparately configure a UE with a value of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) fortransmissions of data TBs from the gNB to the UE and a value ofN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) for transmissions of data TBs from the UE to thegNB.

A configured HARQ-ACK codeword length is beneficial in avoidingambiguities that can occur when a UE fails to detect at least one DL DCIformat transmitted by a gNB and scheduling transmission of a respectiveat least one TB in respective at least one slot or DL cell with indexlarger than a largest index of a slot or DL cell where the UE receives aTB scheduled by a respective DL DCI format that the UE detects and wherethe UE is expected to transmit HARQ-ACK information in a same HARQ-ACKcodeword for the TBs. As the gNB cannot be aware that the UE failed todetect the at least one DL DCI format, the gNB cannot be aware that theUE does not include HARQ-ACK information for respective data TBs in aHARQ-ACK codeword and therefore, unless the gNB configures to the UE theHARQ-ACK codeword length, the gNB and the UE consider different lengthsfor the HARQ-ACK codeword.

A DL DCI format scheduling transmission of one or more TBs to a UE caninclude a “HARQ-ACK codeword location” field, represented by┌log₂(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW))┐ bits, that indicates a location for a firstHARQ-ACK information bit from a number of HARQ-ACK information bits thatthe UE generates in response to a reception of TBs scheduled by the DLDCI format. A HARQ-ACK codeword location” field provides similarfunctionality as a “CBG counter” field and a DL DCI format can includeone of these two fields.

In another example, a number of HARQ-ACK information bits per TB,N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) can be signaled in a DL DCI format by a corresponding“HARQ-ACK information bits number” field. When a same DL DCI formatschedules transmissions of multiple TBs in multiple slots, a same valueof N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) can apply per TB when the DL DCI does not includea CBG counter field. Signaling a N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) value in a DL DCIformat can be beneficial when a HARQ-ACK codeword size N_(HARQ-ACK)^(CW) (or N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) per slot) is configured in advance asthe signaling enables a gNB scheduler to schedule transmissions fordifferent number of TBs and with different TB sizes at differentinstances. Also, signaling a N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) value in a DL DCI formatcan apply when a HARQ-ACK codeword includes CRC bits as there is no needto include a N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) field in the DL DCI format andtherefore can have a dynamically determined value of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)without having a varying size for the DL DCI format. For example, forN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW)=10, when a gNB schedules a data TB transmission oneach of N_(Cells) ^(DL)=10 cells in a slot, assuming for simplicity asame TB size on each cell, the gNB can set N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)=1 whilewhen the gNB schedules a data TB transmission on each of N_(Cells)^(DL)=5 cells in a slot, the gNB can set N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)=2. Ingeneral, DL DCI formats scheduling different data TBs can indicate adifferent value for N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) as respective TB sizes can bedifferent. A gNB can set a value of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) in each DL DCIformat so that a total number of respective HARQ-ACK bits is less thanor equal to N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW).

A value of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB), or equivalently a number of CBGs per TB,determines a number of CBs per CBG, N_(CB) ^(CBG), as N_(CB)^(CBG)=┌N_(CB) ^(TB)/N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)┐ for the first (or last)mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) CBGs and as N_(CB) ^(CBG)=└N_(CB)^(TB)/N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)┘ for the last (or first) N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB)−mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) CBGs. A UE can expect thatN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)≤N_(CB) ^(TB), that is N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB)=min(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max),N_(CB) ^(TB)). When a UE correctlydetects all data CBs in a CBG, the UE generates an ACK value (binaryone); otherwise, the UE generates a NACK value. Therefore, a DL DCIformat can indicate a number of CBGs per TB and a location forassociated HARQ-ACK information bits in a HARQ-ACK codeword.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example adaptive partitioning of a data codeblock 2500 to data code block groups and a respective adaptivegeneration of an HARQ-ACK codeword of predetermined length according toembodiments of the present disclosure. An embodiment of the adaptivepartitioning of a data code block 2500 shown in FIG. 25 is forillustration only. Other embodiments may be used without departing fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

A UE detects a first DL DCI format transmitted from a gNB and schedulingin a first slot or on a first cell a reception of a first TB for a firstHARQ process and indicating a generation of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB1)=4HARQ-ACK information bits from the UE and a first element in a HARQ-ACKcodeword as a starting location for a consecutive placement of theHARQ-ACK information bits (min(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max),N_(CB) ^(TB))=4).The UE partitions the CBs of the first data TB into four CBGs 2510,generates four respective HARQ-ACK information bits with either “ACK”(A) or “NACK” (N) value, and places them as the first four elements inthe HARQ-ACK codeword 2515.

The UE fails to detects a second DL DCI format transmitted from the gNBand scheduling in a second slot or on a second cell a reception of asecond TB for a second HARQ process and indicating a generation ofN_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB2)=2 HARQ-ACK information bits from the UE and a fifthelement in the HARQ-ACK codeword as a starting location for aconsecutive placement of the HARQ-ACK information bits (min(N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB,max),N_(CB) ^(TB))=2). The second DCI format indicates a partitionfor the CBs of the second data TB into two CBGs 2520 and a generation oftwo respective HARQ-ACK information bits with placement at the fifth andsixth elements in the HARQ-ACK codeword 2525.

The UE detects a third DL DCI format transmitted from the gNB schedulingin a third slot or a on third cell a reception of a third TB for a thirdHARQ process and indicating a generation of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB3)=2HARQ-ACK information bits from the UE and a seventh element in theHARQ-ACK codeword as a starting location for a consecutive placement ofthe HARQ-ACK information bits (min(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max),N_(CB)^(TB))=2). The UE partitions the CBs of the third data TB into two CBGs2530, generates two respective HARQ-ACK information bits and places themas the seventh and eight elements in the HARQ-ACK codeword 2535. Whenthe UE is configured a HARQ-ACK codeword with length N_(HARQ-ACK)^(CW)>8 bits, such as N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW)=3·N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max),N_(CB)^(TB)=12, the UE sets the value of remaining last N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(CW)−8bits to “NACK” (binary zero) and transmits the HARQ-ACK codeword.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example receiver block diagram 2600 for datainformation and UCI in a PUSCH according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. An embodiment of the receiver block diagram 2600 shown inFIG. 26 is for illustration only. Other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

A UE detects a DL DCI format and determines a TB size, for example froma resource allocation field and from a MCS field to determine a numberof HARQ-ACK information bits N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB) for the TB, for example,from a HARQ-ACK information bits number field or from higher layerconfiguration of N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max) 2610. From the TB size, the UEdetermines a number of CBs, for example as N_(CB) ^(TB)=┌TBS/CBS_(max)┐where TBS is the TB size in bits and CBS_(max) is a predeterminedmaximum CB size in bits, and a number of CBGs as N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)=min(N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB,max),N_(CB) ^(TB))) 2620.

The UE determines N_(CB) ^(CBG)=┌N_(CB) ^(TB)/N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)┐ CBsper CBG for first mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) CBGs 2630 anddetermines N_(CB) ^(CBG)=└N_(CB) ^(TB)/N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)┘ CBs per CBGfor last N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)−mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) CBGs2635. The UE generates mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) HARQ-ACKinformation bits for first (or last) mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK)^(TB)) CBGs 1140 and generates N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)−mod(N_(CB)^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) HARQ-ACK information bits for last (or first)N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)−mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) CBGs 2645.Finally, the UE serially allocates mod(N_(CB) ^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB))HARQ-ACK information bits followed by N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)−mod(N_(CB)^(TB),N_(HARQ-ACK) ^(TB)) HARQ-ACK information bits in a HARQ-ACKcodeword.

When a HARQ-ACK codeword length is dynamically determined from signalingin associated DL DCI formats, ambiguities for the HARQ-ACK codewordlength can occur when a UE fails to detect at least one DL DCI formattransmitted by a gNB and respectively scheduling transmission of atleast one TB in at least one slot or DL cell with index larger than alargest index of a slot or DL cell where the UE receives a TB scheduledby a DL DCI format that the UE detects and where the UE is expected totransmit HARQ-ACK information in a same HARQ-ACK codeword for the TBs.As the gNB cannot be aware that the UE failed to detect the at least oneDL DCI format, the gNB cannot be aware that the UE does not includeHARQ-ACK information for respective data TBs in a HARQ-ACK codeword andtherefore the gNB and the UE consider different lengths for the HARQ-ACKcodeword.

The gNB can resolve this by decoding a HARQ-ACK codeword according tomultiple hypotheses for the HARQ-ACK codeword length, for exampleaccording to N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)+1 hypotheses, where each hypothesiscorresponds to a UE failing to detect a number of DL DCI formats such asfor example, 0, 1, . . . , N_(DCI) ^(misdetect)−1 DL DCI formats. Animplicit configuration of a HARQ-ACK codeword length can be beneficialin avoiding redundant information in a HARQ-ACK codeword, leading toincreased reception reliability, or reduced inter-cell interference, orreduced UL resource consumption. Further, when a UE transmits HARQ-ACKfor CBGs instead of TBs, an implicit configuration of a HARQ-ACKcodeword length can enable a gNB to practically arbitrarily select anumber of HARQ-ACK information bits per TB as scheduling for the UEprogresses across slots since the gNB is not restricted by apredetermined HARQ-ACK codeword length.

In some embodiments, an adjustment in a code rate for data TBs or dataCBs is considered when UCI such as HARQ-ACK is multiplexed with data ina PUSCH transmission.

When UCI is multiplexed in a PUSCH transmission, an effective data coderate is increased as some SCs (or REs) are used for UCI transmission andare not available for data transmission. When an UL DCI format schedulesa transmission of a single data TB from a UE, a gNB scheduler canaccount for the increase in the effective code rate for the data TB byindicating to the UE a lower MCS than necessary for achieving a targetBLER for the data TB when there is no UCI multiplexing and anover-dimensioning in a number of UCI coded modulation symbols (due tothe low MCS) can be mitigated by adjusting a respective β_(offset)^(PUSCH) value through the UL DCI format.

When an UL DCI format schedules transmissions of multiple data TBs froma UE over multiple slots, the UL DCI format needs to either separatelyindicate a MCS value for data TB transmission in PUSCH without UCImultiplexing and a MCS value for data TB transmission in PUSCH with UCImultiplexing, or indicate a single MCS value, for example with referenceto data TB transmission in PUSCH without UCI multiplexing, and the UEcan adjust a MCS value (or a TBS value) for data TB transmission inPUSCH with UCI multiplexing based on a number of UCI coded modulationsymbols in that PUSCH. The former approach provides robust behavior atthe expense of increasing a size of an UL DCI format to provide multipleMCS fields.

The latter approach can avoid the disadvantage of the former approach byestablishing a mechanism for adjusting a MCS value, or a data TB size,or a transmission power for data TB transmission in a PUSCH with UCImultiplexing. An alternative is to distribute a transmission of UCIcoded modulation symbols across the multiple slots, for an associatedUCI latency penalty, and then a MCS value indicated by an UL DCI formatcan be applicable for transmission of data information in all multipleslots.

An MCS value for data TB transmission in a PUSCH with UCI multiplexingcan be adjusted by adjusting an associated code rate. TABLE 2 indicatesan exemplary association of an MCS index in an UL DCI format to amodulation order, a TBS index, and a code rate. A mapping of the TBSindex to an actual TBS can be provided by a separate Table alsoconsidering a number of RBs and slot symbols for a PUSCH transmission.

TABLE 2 Mapping of MCS Index to Modulation Order, TBS Index, and CodeRate Modulation MCS Index Order TBS Index Code Rate 0 2 0 0.1019 1 2 10.1236 2 2 2 0.1538 3 2 3 0.2051 4 2 4 0.2507 5 2 5 0.3101 6 2 6 0.36387 2 7 0.4289 8 2 8 0.4882 9 2 9 0.5534 10 2 10 0.6152 11 4 10 0.3096 124 11 0.3582 13 4 12 0.4024 14 4 13 0.4590 15 4 14 0.5013 16 4 15 0.535517 4 16 0.5688 18 4 17 0.6311 19 4 18 0.6921 20 4 19 0.7520 21 6 190.5013 22 6 20 0.5420 23 6 21 0.5851 24 6 22 0.6283 25 6 23 0.6689 26 624 0.7104 27 6 25 0.7406 28 6 26 0.8743

A UE can determine (from an associated UL DCI format) a total number ofSCs available for data transmission in case of no UCI multiplexing,Q_(Data) ^(w/o UCI), a total number of SCs used for UCI multiplexing,Q_(UCI), based on a UCI payload and associated β_(offset) ^(PUSCH)values, and then determine a remaining number of SCs available for datatransmission after UCI multiplexing Q_(Data) ^(w UCI)=Q_(Data)^(w/o UCI)−Q_(UCI). An increase in an effective data code rate is by afactor of f=Q_(Data) ^(w/o UCI)/Q_(Data) ^(w UCI). To offset thisincrease, the UE can reduce a code rate, r_(MCS) ^(DCI), correspondingto a signaled MCS index in an UL DCI format by the factor f=Q_(Data)^(w/o UCI)/Q_(Data) ^(w UCI) and determine an adjusted MCS index througha corresponding code rate r_(MCS) ^(new) that is a largest code ratemapping to an MCS index that is smaller than or equal to r_(MCS)^(adjust)=(Q_(Data) ^(w UCI)/Q_(Data) ^(w/o UCI))·r_(MCS) ^(DCI). A sameprinciple can apply in general for a data TB transmission when a numberof SCs are not used for transmission of data information.

For example, when an UL DCI format signals MCS index 18 corresponding toa code rate of r_(MCS) ^(DCI)=0.6311 and Q_(Data) ^(w UCI)/Q_(Data)^(w/o UCI)=0.8, the UE determines r_(MCS) ^(adjust)=(Q_(Data)^(w UCI)/Q_(Data) ^(w/o UCI))·r_(MCS) ^(DCI)=0.8·0.6311=0.5049 and thendetermines an adjusted MCS with index 15 that corresponds to code rateof r_(MCS) ^(new)=0.5013 that is the largest code rate in the mappingTable that is smaller than 0.5049. For example, when an UL DCI formatsignals MCS index 12 corresponding to a code rate of r_(MCS)^(DCI)=0.3532 and Q_(Data) ^(w UCI)/Q_(Data) ^(w/o UCI)=0.6, the UEdetermines r_(MCS) ^(adjust)=(Q_(Data) ^(w UCI)/Q_(Data)^(w/o UCI))·r_(MCS) ^(DCI)=0.6·0.3532=0.2119 and then determines anadjusted MCS with index 3 that corresponds to code rate of r_(MCS)^(new)=0.2043. In the first example only a code rate is adjusted whilein the second example both a modulation order and a code are adjusted.In addition to UCI multiplexing, a code rate for data transmission in aPUSCH can also be adjusted for SRS multiplexing, when any, in a similarmanner by discounting SCs used for SRS transmission from SCs that areavailable for data transmission in a slot.

FIG. 27 illustrates an example process 2700 for a UE to adjust a MCSindex signaled in an UL DCI format and determine an adjusted MCS indexin order to account for an increase in a code rate due to UCImultiplexing according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anembodiment of the process 2700 shown in FIG. 27 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A UE detects an UL DCI format that includes a MCS field with a firstvalue I_(MCS,1) and, based for example on a predetermined mapping Table,the UE determines a first code rate r_(MCS) ^(DCI) for data transmissionin a PUSCH 2710. The UE also determines a number of UCI coded modulationsymbols and a respective number of SCs for multiplexing the number ofUCI coded modulation symbols in the PUSCH 2720. The determination by theUE to multiplex the UCI in the PUSCH can be by an associated field inthe UL DCI format or by higher layer configuration to the UE tomultiplex UCI in the PUSCH when the UE is to transmit UCI in a same slotas a slot of a PUSCH transmission.

Based on the number of UCI coded modulation symbols and on a number ofavailable SCs for data transmission without UCI multiplexing, the UEdetermines a data code rate increase factor f due to UCI multiplexingreducing the number of available SCs that can be used for datatransmission 2730. The UE subsequently determines a resulting code rater_(MCS) ^(adjust) for data transmission, after excluding SCs used forUCI multiplexing, as r_(MCS) ^(adjust)=r_(MCS) ^(DCI)/f 2740. The UEthen determines a second MCS index I_(MCS,2) from a predeterminedmapping to a second data code rate r_(MCS) ^(new) that is a largest coderate that is smaller than or equal to r_(MCS) ^(adjust) 2750. Finally,the UE uses the I_(MCS,2) value to determine coding and modulationparameters for a data TB scheduled by the UL DCI format for transmissionin the PUSCH. The UE can adjust a PUSCH transmission power according toI_(MCS,2).

A data TBS for transmission in a PUSCH is determined from an MCS indexfield included in an UL DCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission andfrom a reference number of RBs in a frequency domain and a referencenumber of slot symbols in a time domain, such as slot SCs/symbolsexcluding ones used for RS transmission, that are available for datatransmission. For example, for a RB that includes 12 SCs and a slot thatincludes 14 symbols, a total of 24 SCs can be assumed for DMRStransmission and remaining 14×12−24=144 SCs can be assumed available fordata transmission. Therefore, a reference number of SCs do not considerUCI multiplexing or SRS transmissions in a slot.

A data TBS for transmission in a PUSCH scheduled by an UL DCI format canbe determined from (a) a TBS index and (b) a time/frequency resourceallocation for the PUSCH. The TBS index is determined by an UL DCIformat field providing an MCS index and by a predetermined mappingbetween MCS index and TBS index, for example as in TABLE 2. TABLE 3indicates an exemplary association (mapping) for a TBS index and atime/frequency resource allocation for a PUSCH transmission to a TBSvalue. A first ten I_(TBS) values and up to ten PUSCH RBs are includedbut the association and can directly extend to more I_(TBS) values orPUSCH RBs. For example, a time resource allocation is one slot offourteen symbols with two symbols used for DMRS transmission (leavingtwelve slot symbols for data transmission) and a frequency resourceallocation is a number of RBs.

TABLE 3 Mapping of TBS Index and Number of PUSCH RBs to TBS value N_(RB)over 1 Slot of 14 Symbols I_(TBS) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 16 32 56 88 120152 176 208 224 256 1 24 56 88 144 176 208 224 256 328 344 2 32 72 144176 208 256 296 328 376 424 3 40 104 176 208 256 328 392 440 504 568 456 120 208 256 328 408 488 552 632 696 5 72 144 224 328 424 504 600 680776 872 6 328 176 256 392 504 600 712 808 936 1032 7 104 224 328 472 584712 840 968 1096 1224 8 120 256 392 536 680 808 968 1096 1256 1384 9 136296 456 616 776 936 1096 1256 1416 1544

When UCI or SRS or PUCCH is multiplexed in some SCs or symbols of aPUSCH transmission, a data TBS value can be adjusted to reflect areduction in a number of SCs available for data transmission for a sameI_(TBS) value. Denote by N_(slot) a number of slot symbols, by N_(sc)^(RB) a number of SCs per RB, and by N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) a number ofSCs per slot and per RB used for DMRS transmission. The value ofN_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) can be different for PUSCH transmissions indifferent slots or for PUSCH transmissions from different UEs.

The TBS determination in TABLE 3 is based on using (N_(slot)·N_(sc)^(RB)−N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB))·N_(RB) SCs for data transmission where afixed reference value for N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) is used. When N_(sc,UCI)^(slot,RB) SCs per RB and N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) SCs per RB are usedrespectively for UCI multiplexing and SRS multiplexing in a PUSCHtransmission, or when a value of N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) can be variablefor example as indicated by an UL DCI format scheduling the PUSCH or asconfigured to a UE by higher layers, a total number of REs available fordata transmission is (N_(slot)·N_(sc) ^(RB)−N_(sc,RS)^(slot,RB)−N_(sc,UCI) ^(slot,RB)−N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB))·N_(RB).

A TBS for data transmission in the PUSCH can then be adjusted to be theTBS corresponding to a N_(RB) value determined as

$N_{RB} = \left\lceil {\frac{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{UCI}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{SRS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)}{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)} \cdot N_{RB}} \right\rceil$

or as

$N_{RB} = \left\lfloor {\frac{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{UCI}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{SRS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)}{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)} \cdot N_{RB}} \right\rfloor$

when N_(RB)>0 and as N_(RB)=1, otherwise. For example, when

$\frac{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{UCI}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{SRS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)}{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)} = \frac{2}{3}$

and an UL DCI format indicates N_(RB)=9, a TBS size can be determinedaccording to Table 3 using N_(RB)=⅔·9=6. The UE can adjust a PUSCHtransmission power according to the determined TBS.

FIG. 28 illustrates an example process 2800 for a UE to adjust a numberof RBs signaled in an UL DCI format for determining a data TBS in orderto account for an increase in a code rate due to UCI or SRS multiplexingin a PUSCH according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anembodiment of the process 2800 shown in FIG. 28 is for illustrationonly. Other embodiments may be used without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

A UE detects an UL DCI format scheduling PUSCH transmissions conveyingone or more data TBs in one or more slots. A slot includes N_(slot)symbols. The UL DCI format includes a frequency resource allocationfield providing N_(RB) RBs for the PUSCH transmissions, where a RBincludes N_(sc) ^(RB) SCs, and also includes a MCS field providing anMCS index, I_(MCS) 2810. Based on a predetermined mapping, such as forexample as in Table 2, the UE determines a TBS index I_(TBS) 2820. Anumber of N_(sc,RS) ^(slot,RB) SCs per RB are used for DMRStransmissions. The UE also determines a number of UCI coded modulationsymbols, when any, and a respective number of SCs N_(sc,UCI) ^(slot,RB)for multiplexing the number of UCI coded modulation symbols and a numberof SCs N_(sc,SRS) ^(slot,RB) for multiplexing a SRS transmission, whenany, in the PUSCH 2830.

For adjusting a TBS determination, due to the multiplexing of UCI orSRS, the UE determines a new number or RBs as

$N_{RB} = {\left\lceil {\frac{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{UCI}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{SRS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)}{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)} \cdot N_{RB}} \right\rceil 2840.}$

It is also possible that the UE determines a new number of RBs as

$N_{RB} = \left\lfloor {\frac{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{UCI}}^{{slot},{RB}} - N_{{sc},{SRS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)}{\left( {{N_{slot} \cdot N_{sc}^{RB}} - N_{{sc},{RS}}^{{slot},{RB}}} \right)} \cdot N_{RB}} \right\rfloor$

when N_(RB)>0 and as N_(RB)=1, otherwise. Based on the new number of RBsand on the I_(TBS) value, the UE determines a TBS for transmission in aPUSCH over the number of RBs indicated by the UL DCI format (theoriginal value of N_(RB)) 2850.

An UL DCI format can also schedule UCI-only transmission in a slot, suchas a first slot, when the UL DCI format includes a “CSI-only” field or a“HARQ-ACK-only” field set to a respective value. Then, a UE caninterpret that the UL DCI format schedules UCI-only transmission in theslot and interpret the UL DCI format as scheduling data transmissions,and possibly other UCI transmissions, in remaining slots.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

None of the description in this application should be read as implyingthat any particular element, step, or function is an essential elementthat must be included in the claims scope. The scope of patented subjectmatter is defined only by the claims. Moreover, none of the claims areintended to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the exact words “means for”are followed by a participle.

What is claimed is:
 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a receiverconfigured to receive: a configuration for a first set of values; and adownlink control information (DCI) format scheduling a transmission of aphysical uplink shared data channel (PUSCH) over a set of resourceelements (REs) and including a field providing an index; a processorconfigured to determine: a first value from the first set of valuesbased on the index; and a first subset of REs, from the set of REs, formultiplexing first uplink control information (UCI) based on the firstvalue; and a transmitter configured to transmit the first UCI in thePUSCH.
 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein: the receiver is further configuredto receive a configuration for a second set of values and aconfiguration for third set of values, the second and third sets ofvalues having a same size as the first set of values; the processor isfurther configured to determine: a second value from the second set ofvalues based on the index; a third value from the third set of valuesbased on the index; a second subset of REs, from the set of REs, formultiplexing second UCI based on the second value; and a third subset ofREs, from the set of REs, for multiplexing third UCI based on the thirdvalue; and the transmitter is further configured to transmit the secondUCI and the third UCI in the PUSCH.
 3. The UE of claim 2, wherein: thefirst UCI is hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK)information, the second UCI is a first part of channel state information(CSI), and the third UCI is a second part of CSI that includes twoparts.
 4. The UE of claim 3, wherein the first part of CSI includes afirst predetermined number of information bits and the second part ofCSI includes a number of information bits indicated by the first part ofCSI.
 5. The UE of claim 4, wherein when the first predetermined numberof information bits is smaller than a second predetermined number ofinformation bits, a number of additional bits equal to a differencebetween the second predetermined number and the first predeterminednumber and with a predetermined value are included in the first part ofCSI.
 6. The UE of claim 1, wherein: the DCI format includes a fieldindicating retransmission of a hybrid automatic repeat requestacknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information codeword; and the UCI includesthe HARQ-ACK information codeword.
 7. The UE of claim 2, wherein: a samemapping to the set of REs is used for the first subset of REs, thesecond subset of REs, and the third subset of REs; and the mapping issequential, first in frequency domain and second in time domain,starting with the first subset of REs, continuing with the second subsetof REs, and concluding with the third subset of REs.
 8. A base stationcomprising: a transmitter configured to transmit: a configuration for afirst set of values; and a downlink control information (DCI) formatscheduling a reception of a physical uplink shared data channel (PUSCH)over a set of resource elements (REs) and including a field providing anindex; a processor configured to determine: a first value from the firstset of values based on the index; and a first subset of REs, from theset of REs, for de-multiplexing first uplink control information (UCI)based on the first value; and a receiver configured to receive the firstUCI in the PUSCH.
 9. The base station of claim 8, wherein: thetransmitter is further configured to transmit a configuration for asecond set of values and a configuration for third set of values, thesecond and third sets of values having a same size as the first set ofvalues; the processor is further configured to determine: a second valuefrom the second set of values based on the index; a third value from thethird set of values based on the index; a second subset of REs, from theset of REs, for de-multiplexing second UCI based on the second value;and a third subset of REs, from the set of REs, for de-multiplexingthird UCI based on the third value; and the receiver is furtherconfigured to receive the second UCI and the third UCI in the PUSCH. 10.The base station of claim 9, wherein: the first UCI is hybrid automaticrepeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, the second UCI isa first part of channel state information (CSI), and the third UCI is asecond part of CSI that includes two parts.
 11. The base station ofclaim 10, wherein the first part of CSI includes a first predeterminednumber of information bits and the second part of CSI includes a numberof information bits indicated by the first part of CSI.
 12. The basestation of claim 11, wherein when the first predetermined number ofinformation bits is smaller than a second predetermined number ofinformation bits, a number of additional bits equal to a differencebetween the second predetermined number and the first predeterminednumber and with a predetermined value are included in the first part ofCSI.
 13. The base station of claim 8, wherein: the DCI format includes afield indicating retransmission of a hybrid automatic repeat requestacknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information codeword; and the UCI includesthe HARQ-ACK information codeword.
 14. The base station of claim 9,wherein: a same mapping to the set of REs is used for the first subsetof REs, the second subset of REs, and the third subset of REs; and themapping is sequential, first in frequency domain and second in timedomain, starting with the first subset of REs, and continuing with thesecond subset of REs, and concluding with the third subset of REs.
 15. Amethod comprising: receiving a configuration for a first set of values;receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format scheduling atransmission of a physical uplink shared data channel (PUSCH) over a setof resource elements (REs) and including a field providing an index;determining a first value from the first set of values based on theindex; determining a first subset of REs from the set of REs, formultiplexing first uplink control information (UCI), based on the firstvalue; and transmitting the first UCI in the PUSCH.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising: receiving a configuration for a second setof values and a configuration for third set of values, the second andthird sets of values having a same size as the first set of values;determining a second value from the second set of values based on theindex; determining a third value from the third set of values based onthe index; determining a second subset of REs from the set of REs, formultiplexing second UCI, based on the second value; determining a thirdsubset of REs from the set of REs, for multiplexing third UCI based, onthe third value; and transmitting the second UCI and the third UCI inthe PUSCH.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein: the first UCI is hybridautomatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, thesecond UCI is a first part of channel state information (CSI), and thethird UCI is a second part of CSI that includes two parts.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the first part of CSI includes a firstpredetermined number of information bits and the second part of CSIincludes a number of information bits indicated by the first part ofCSI.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein when the first predeterminednumber of information bits is smaller than a second predetermined numberof information bits, a number of additional bits equal to a differencebetween the second predetermined number and the first predeterminednumber and with a predetermined value are included in the first part ofCSI.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein: a same mapping to the set ofREs is used for the first subset of REs, the second subset of REs, andthe third subset of REs; and the mapping is sequential, first infrequency domain and second in time domain, starting with the firstsubset of REs, continuing with the second subset of REs, and concludingwith the third subset of REs.